


Claws and Magic

by Blitza



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Wolverine And The X-Men (Cartoon), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Abusive Dursley Family, Cat Ears, Crossover, F/M, Family, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Mutant Harry, Mutants, Neglectful Dumbledore, dad!logan, mutant family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-05 09:05:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12791271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blitza/pseuds/Blitza
Summary: Harry finds himself far away from home when he's dropped off by the Dursley's to his biological father. Unsure of himself and his own origins, Harry must unravel the secrets around him in order to truly understand and react to both his new family, and the changing world around him. (focuses more on the school cover story and the adoption of mutants in need than the series. AKA: the fix it)Warning: all knowlegde presented in this fic comes from either the internet, X-men:Evolution, Wolverine and the X-men, or head canon. Be warned. Already crossposted elsewhere. I also own absolutely nothing. Seriously.





	1. Chapter 1

Logan blinked at the sight that awaited him on his doorstep. Scruffy hair and green eyes blinked back up at him sleepily. A ragged blanket was draped over his shoulders and he was leaning against a large, wooden trunk. In his hands was a diary and a manila folder stuffed with official looking documents. A snowy owl perched on the child’s shoulder.

“Oi, kid. What are you doing here?”

“Um… my aunt dropped me off here. She told me to give this to a James Logan Howlett. Are you James Logan Howlett?”  Logan froze. He was moving before his mind really had time to register anything. His hands gripped the child by the neck and he shoved the boy up against the wall.

“Where did you hear that name?” He growled as he pushed the child against the wall.

“I-I-”

“Where?” He roared, lifting the kid up and shoving him against the wall again.

“Wolverine!” Someone shouted, and hands gripped his arms. Insistently, they tugged him away. He struggled, but a moment later he felt a foreign presence in his mind.  It pulled him into submission as it searched through his memories. Slowly, Logan felt himself calm. He looked through clear eyes at the kid he had just assaulted because of a name. A name that no kid should know, certainly. But still just a name. Currently, the kid was still up against the wall, though he had slid down to his rear. His snowy owl screeched as it flew above his head. The boy gasped for breath as he gazed at Logan with something akin to terror. Kitty and Bobby were both by his side and Logan could still feel Frost’s presence in his mind.

“Umm…” Logan’s eyes flew to the kid as the child tried to stutter out something.

“My aunt t-told me to give this to James Logan Howlett. I g-guess from that reaction you do know of him at least. Could you t-take me to him? My aunt’s already left.” Logan reached forward and snagged the documents and diary from the kid’s hands. Shuffling through them, Logan could feel his sort-of calm dissipating like the morning mists. He carded through the pages faster and faster, before freezing suddenly.

“Oh, Hell.” He murmured as he leaned against the opposite wall.

“Logan?” Emma asked from the open doorway. The frosty woman stepped forward briskly and snatched the papers from his hands. Logan was so lost he didn’t even mind or put up a fuss when she took the papers. Instead, he was too busy staring at the kid in front of him. His kid, he realized belatedly. His son. This time, Logan looked at the kid and saw the dark circles under his eyes. He saw the way the boy’s hair was wild and crazy but it was also greasy and poorly cared for. Thin, bony hands pet the owl; an owl that looked better cared for than the boy. The clothes the kid wore were several sizes too big and stained beyond help. The one thing that wasn’t torn beyond repair was a blue ski hat that was big enough to cover down to the nape of his neck. Logan had seen these signs before and he really didn’t like the story they hinted at.  

“Um… are you sure you should be reading that? I mean, I don’t know this Mr. Howlett or whoever, but I don’t think he’d be happy if you read his stuff.” The kid said. Logan blinked before reaching around and taking the documents back from Bobby who had gone catatonic when he got to the interesting bits.

“I am Logan Howlett.” He said as he reached down to grip the kid’s hand. He pulled up and wasn’t surprised at how light the kid was, though he wished he was.

“O-oh.” The Kid whispered as he blinked up at Logan.

“Did you read what was in here?” Logan asked bluntly. The kid ducked his head in embarrassment before nodding.

“Good, that means I don’t have to tell you. Come inside and sit down. I’ll get Child Services on the phone. You’ll be out of here within the hour.” It would be better this way. If the kid wasn’t with him there wasn’t as much of a chance of anyone connecting The Wolverine to the kid. The name on the birth certificate would have to change though. That was far too blatant. They would also have to get a DNA sample off him while he was here in order to make sure he didn’t have the X-gene. Hank could do that. For now though, he needed to get the kid away from the institute. The farther away the kid was from him, the smaller the chance was for getting dangerously involved. Or to get discovered.

“Child Services?” The kid asked. He had paused just outside the door of the institute, owl firmly in his arms.

“Yeah, sorry kid but you ain’t stayin’ with me.” Logan said as he walked into the sitting room.

“I’m not? Then can I at least stay a few days? I can get into contact with my godfather.” The kid said as he reluctantly stepped into the institute with Kitty and Bobby following behind. Emma pulled in the trunk the boy had with him.

“Your godfather’s a wanted criminal.” Logan retorted. He could recall the name on the birth certificate and remembered the man from the news channel. How did the kid even get in touch with Black anyway? Wasn’t the kid staying with his aunt?

“He was framed.” The kid defended.

“Look, kid. I don’t care if he was framed or not. Right now, he’s a wanted criminal. You aren’t staying with someone like that. He may not shoot ya but the police might by accident if they think they’re aiming for Black.”  Logan growled as he stomped into the kitchen. He sent a glare at Bobby and Kitty as he caught them staring between him and the kid again. They jumped and looked away. Kitty started asking the kid questions.

“Oi kids, hush it. I’m calling them.” Logan said as he grabbed the kitchen phone. He opened the phone book beside it and went straight to the ‘C’s.  A moment later he dialed the phone.

“Hello, Child Services. What can we help you with?” A lady answered the phone.

“Some Kid got dropped off at my door. He’s got a bunch of legal papers with him and his aunt just left him here.”

“Oh my, now that’s a problem. I’m afraid we don’t have anyone free right now to deal with it however. Can you keep the child for a few days? We are currently a bit short staffed what with the fire at the Downtown orphanage.” The lady said cheerily.

“You can’t send anyone down to get him?”

“No, I’m sorry. We’ll be able to send someone down on Tuesday at the earliest. There have been a lot of kids misplaced and we don’t have the manpower to add to that list. I’m sorry but you are just going to have to take care of the boy for a bit. We don’t have anyone to send.” The ladies voice kept that merry tone of before but somehow it still sent shivers down Wolverine’s spine. Child Services were there for everything and while most of them were a happy bunch dedicated to helping people, they had all seen some of the most depraved acts of humankind. Abuse and neglect of your own children for instance. No, Child Services were no pushover. When it came to their kids, they had wills of raw diamond and the power to go through fire and ice.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll take care of him till one of you can get here.” And with that he, the great Wolverine, subsided to her will, the will of a Child Services Agent. He agreed to take the kid until they had finished cleaning up the ashes and getting their paperwork in order. He told them where to come after they were finished with cleaning up, and even what time would be best. Finally, he hung up and sagged against the wall; a defeated man coming home from a foreign land.

Logan wondered when the headache would go away.

 

* * *

  


Harry was nervous. No, he was beyond nervous. He was terrified. The first thing that had seemed strange was how the Dursleys had been happy when they had picked him up, joyful even. Harry had never seen the Dursley’s happy, or at least not around him. They were never happy when he was around. Another strange thing was that all of them had come to pick him up. Normally it was only Vernon.

Harry didn’t really notice though. He was a tad bit busy making sure his hat didn’t fall off and that he kept his gloves on. He really didn’t want to see their reaction if they saw.

Thus, he was too busy to notice their destination until they had arrived at the airport.

“Uncle Vernon, why are we at the airport? Aren’t we going back to the house?” Harry asked timidly.

“Nope! We’re going to America. That’s where we’ll be dropping you off before we go on an all-expenses paid trip to Orlando, Florida!” Vernon hummed happily as he parked the car and removed his considerable bulk from it.

“America…” Harry mumbled as he furrowed his brow in concentration. So, they were going to drop him off somewhere before going on a vacation? Briefly he wondered who he would be dropped off with. One of their business partners? Mrs. Figg?

“Move it freak! We’ve got a flight to catch!” Aunt Petunia snarled as she started grabbing bags. Harry jumped out of the car and darted to the trunk where he released Hedwig. He doubted the Dursleys would have made preparations for an animal crossing national borders into foreign nationalities. Plus, that meant he wouldn’t have to take her cage and could instead take only the perch and food stored in his trunk. Then Harry grabbed his trunk and hurried after the Dursleys. He didn’t want to lose them in the crowded airport.

Harry followed the Dursleys through customs and all the other airport things that Harry had never been through before. It was an interesting experience for Harry and he enjoyed learning the new things that came with flying on a plane. As he took his seat however he found himself nervous. Harry had never been on a plane before, and while he knew that they flew he had no experience with them. The closest thing he had was his broom and that was a thing of magic. How could this bulky, metal, tin can fly? Harry followed all the before flight procedures meticulously and gripped the armrests of his seat as the plane took off. Briefly, he wondered how Sirius was faring and if Buckbeak was getting enough to eat before they were suddenly in the air. And like that his worries disappeared. The sky was the sky and it didn’t matter how he was in it; he was in it and it wouldn’t drop him. Harry looked out of his window and sighed at the peaceful sky. It would probably be a long flight, but he didn’t mind. He was in the air.

 

* * *

 

ZzzzZzzz...

ZzzzZzzz…

ZzzzZzzzZzzzZzzz…

Zzzz- “Attention all passengers, we are nearing our destination and will soon begin descending. Please buckle your seat belts and gather your personal belongings. Thank you for riding Blitza airlines. Please enjoy the remainder of your flight.”

The old man shuddered before opening his eyes. Blinking he seemed to realize his surrounding and quickly got his belongings in order before buckling his seat belt. Next to him a certain black-haired child was doing the same, though he was much less well rested. Harry fought the urge to sigh in relief as that horrible noise finally ended. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and he blinked dazedly as the wheels touch the ground. If he had been more awake he would have mourned his descent from the sky, but now he was just aware enough to make sure his gloves and ski cap were still covering his hands and head. He had tried to sleep through the eight-hour flight over to New York but the snoring man to his side was nearly impossible to ignore.

As a result, there was one exhausted Harry Potter who was then forced to carry all of his relatives’ bags to the taxi. Harry had never known just why most people liked to travel light but now he knew. Those people who didn’t quickly discovered they had early back trouble. That or they hired someone else to carry their bags for them. Harry climbed into the back of the taxi with Dudley and leaned his head against the window; noticing that the sun had already set and that the sky was just beginning to lose its light. Within eight minutes it would be dark out. Harry blinked sleepily and the next moment he was being shook awake.

“Boy, wake up! This is your stop!” Harry looked up to the scowling face of his aunt. She tugged him out of the cab and forced some papers and a journal into his hands. “Hold these, don’t let them go. Give them to James Logan Howlett, you hear? James Logan Howlett and no one else. You’ll be staying with him from now on.” She said as she shoved him towards a brick wall with a large gate. Harry blinked and looked around as he started to wake.

“Wait Aunt Petunia! You can’t just leave me here!” Harry said as he spun around to see uncle Vernon pulling Harry’s trunk out. Dudley was still asleep in the car and Petunia was climbing back in.

“Sorry boy, but you don’t have a place with us anymore. We took care of you all these years and it turns out we never had to! Your father is still alive, and I refuse to have you in my home any longer. Your freakishness was bad enough before you went to your freak school and now its unbearable and a horrible influence on my Duddlydums. Good riddance.” Aunt Petunia said as she slammed the door and Vernon got into the car. A moment later and they were gone.

Harry blinked. He had always known they didn’t like him, but he had never thought that they would actually abandon him. He had thought… he had thought wrong. A sprinkling of tears wet his eyes and he rubbed at them, shocked he was even crying. Why was he crying over this? The Dursleys had hated him from the moment he had arrived on their doorstep. They had punished him and blamed him for every little thing; the scars on his back showed the pathway of his life with them. It was one of hate and jealousy. Yet he was still crying. Why? He wondered. _Why am I crying? They hurt me but I’m still crying. Why?_ Harry moved over to his trunk and sat on it numbly. For a moment he sat there silently, deep in thought. Harry supposed he really did know why he was crying. For while they had hurt him and scarred him, he didn’t think they would abandon him. Harry wondered who they had tried to drop him off with. Did they really think this guy was his dad, or were the Dursleys just trying to drop him off somewhere? Probably the latter.

Harry looked down at the papers in his hands and frowned. What were these? Shifting through them Harry felt shock as he found himself looking at his birth certificate. For a moment his mind went blank at the sight that awaited him. _No… this couldn’t be…_ his vision blurred, and Harry hunched over himself as he took in deep even breaths. Or tried to anyway. Harry didn’t know if it was helping but he eventually got his breathing under control enough to sit up straighter. Harry rubbed his fingers over the certificate, paying special attention to the seal from the hospital. Either this was a really good fake… or it was real. Hope blossomed in his chest for a moment before he squashed it ruthlessly. His father was James Potter, not James Howlett. This was just some stupid bid to get rid of him. That was it. Now he just had to find out where he was and get in contact with someone he could trust, like Sirius.

Harry glanced around. Before him was obviously a fancy mansion of some sort. It was a tall three-story building with a high wall surrounding the entire thing and its grounds. Harry blinked as he felt a droplet of water on his nose. Thunder rumbled ominously, and Harry looked up startled as the sky began to let loose. Harry cursed loudly before grabbing the trunk with both hands. He may not want to, but for now he would need to head to the mansion and take shelter there. Unfortunately places like this normally came with a very expensive security system. Harry wouldn’t be able to get to the door without setting it off and he didn’t feel like waking the occupants up. They were probably worse than the Dursleys.

So instead he focused on himself. Delving in and finding that piece of himself that just felt right. Shadows became realized and when he opened his eyes the world was nothing but black and white. The rain seemed to slow, and Harry could suddenly pick out every tiny aspect of the world around him. He jerked the trunk with him and leaned against the shadow of the wall. Moments later he felt the world slide around him as he suddenly slipped through the wall’s shadow to that of the porch. The trunk clattered after him and Harry winced as it landed on his toe. Harry shuffled the trunk off his toe and limped over to the wall. He slid down it and came to rest on the ground with his legs splayed out. He blinked tiredly as the rain continued to drum out a lullaby on the roof. He would just stay here for a little while…

* * *

This is already posted on several of my other accounts on other sites. Due to this site's growing popularity, I've decided to post it here as well. However, due to my general dislike of this site I'm going to continue posting this site's chapters last. So, you want to read more? Go to one of my other accounts on another site. Its all under the same pen name. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Harry jolted awake and blinked up at the man standing in the doorway. He was dressed comfortable clothes and had black hair. The man looked down at Harry with a completely befuddled expression and had Harry been anywhere else at the moment he would have laughed. As it was he was blinking away sleep trying to make sense of this. Morning light from the sun streamed onto the porch and Harry jerked slightly as he realized he had slept through the night. He also noticed that Hedwig had arrived and was sitting on his shoulder. He wished he had woken up earlier. The man’s face twisted to annoyance.

“Oi, kid. What are you doing here?”  He growled. Harry blinked at the tone of voice before opening his mouth to reply.

“Ummm…” Harry mumbled. Should he tell the truth? It wasn’t like it would hurt and maybe they would help him get in touch with someone who could help. Like Professor Remus & Sirius.

“My aunt dropped me off here. She told me to give this to a James Logan Howlett. Are you James Logan Howlett?” The man froze. Harry barely had enough time to drawn in a breath before he found himself slammed against the wall. Pain exploded in the back of his head and he found himself feeling light headed.

“Where did you hear that name?!” The words were growled out and Harry wondered if his ribs would crack from the pressure.

“I-I-” Harry ground out as the man’s hold on his throat tightened. Harry’s vision was beginning to blur and he couldn’t breathe.

“Where?” The man roared.  Harry closed his eyes and a moment later the beefy hands were plied from his throat. Blessed air flowed into his lungs and Harry sagged down to the ground. He was vaguely aware of shouting and voices but couldn’t really be bothered as he pulled life into his lungs once again. He raised his hands to his throat and winced. That was going to leave a bruise. Hedwig screeched above, and Harry found himself dragging his attention back to the present. Looking up he was surprised to see two young adults at the man’s side; making sure he didn’t do anything. Harry shivered as he remembered the animalistic rage that had shown in the man’s eyes. Still though, that name struck a cord and that was what was important. The man knew Logan Howlett. There had to be a chance of finding him.

“Um… My aunt t-told me to give this to James Logan Howlett. I g-guess from that reaction you do know of him at least. Could you t-take me to him? My aunt’s already left.” Harry stuttered. He was a bit scared talking to the man, but with the others here he wasn’t likely to be attacked just for mentioning his name again. Harry flinched when the man reached forward and snagged the documents and diary out of his hands. The man leafed through the documents, going faster and faster until he finally froze and muttered a soft curse. The door, left open still, opened just a tad more to allow a white clad woman to make her way through. Cynical eyes looked over the situation before she moved over to the man.

“Logan?” The woman asked. When she didn’t get a response, she tugged the papers out of the man’s numb hands. The man’s gaze moved to Harry and he stiffened as he found himself the object of their gaze. They seemed to study him and pick him apart from his hoodie to his long sleeves and loose clothing. Worse yet they seemed to know. To know why he dressed that way and why he hid his skin under those clothes. That is what those orbs seemed to hold. Harry forced his gaze away from the man and turned it to the others. A brown-haired lady and a blond man were currently reading through his documents and gaping at what they found. Harry suddenly felt self-conscious and turned his attention to the rugged man he had first given the papers to.

“Um… are you sure you should be reading that? I mean, I don’t know this Mr. Howlett or whoever, but I don’t think he’d be really happy if you read his stuff.”  Harry said. The man reached around and grabbed the documents from the blonde guy before turning his feral attention back to Harry.

“I am Logan Howlett.”  He stated bluntly, and Harry froze; eyes immediately going to the man’s face as he tried to absorb everything he could about this man and match it with his own.

“O-oh,” Black hair, like Harry’s, stuck up wildly, though the man had gotten it into some semblance of order. Logan had dark eyes that seemed to penetrate, and Harry was suddenly glad he had his mother’s eyes. The nose kind of reminded him of Snape’s to be honest but thankfully that appeared to be from multiple breaks and not genetics. The face was interesting with a bit of facial hair and Harry wondered if he would look like that one day. The actual structure of Logan’s face reminded Harry a little bit of his own. All in all, Harry thought they bore enough resemblance to be related. Maybe.

“Did you read what was in here?”  He asked gruffly and Harry blushed. Even he with his bad upbringing knew reading other people’s things or getting into them was a major violation of privacy. Harry nodded and was surprised by what the man said next.

“Good. That means I don’t have to tell you. Come inside and sit down. I’ll get child services on the phone. You’ll be out of here within the hour.” Harry paused for a moment off kilter as he felt that little spark of hope in his chest die.

“Child Services?” He asked as he felt his heart start to pound. The Dursleys had told him about them. Harry wasn’t naive enough to believe the horror stories they told him to ingratiate him to them. He didn’t want to go into Child Services because of the danger it presented. If they asked him to take off his cap…

“Yeah, sorry kid but you ain’t stayin’ with me.” Logan said as he walked into the sitting room. Harry’s mind rushed to think up a solution. Maybe Sirius?

“I’m not? Then can I at least stay a few days? I normally can get into contact with my godfather when stuff like this happens.” A little white lie. He had only known his godfather for a few hours. Harry didn’t even know where in the world Sirius was. Great thing was the Logan guy didn’t know that. The only way he would was if he paid attention to the news in England and took enough time to read through his birth certificate fully and absorb all the information within.

“Your godfather’s a wanted criminal.” Logan retorted. Harry felt surprise and shock filter through him. So, Logan paid attention to the news in England. Well… how to turn this to his advantage?

Harry thought through all he knew so far and came up with the realization. These people here were hiding from someone, probably the law. They didn’t feel like horrible people, kind of like Sirius really. Making up his mind Harry blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“He was framed.” Harry said.

“Look, kid. I don’t care if he was framed or not. Right now, he is a wanted criminal. You are not staying with someone like that. He may not shoot ya, but the police might by accident if they think they’re aiming for Black.” Logan growled as he stomped into another room. Harry blinked. He hadn’t thought about that. Harry glanced back to the other two people in the room and blinked when he noticed them staring avidly at him. He hunched over slightly and pulled his ski cap lower. The others seemed to notice this, and the girl immediately tried to begin a conversation.

“So… you’re Logan’s kid.” She said before wincing at the statement. Harry shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t really interested in being gawked at. The girl stepped on the guy’s foot and shot him a dirty look. That seemed to jolt the boy and he looked slightly guilty.

“My name’s Bobby. It’s nice to meet ya.” He said as he held out his hand to shake. Harry blinked at the hand but didn’t reach out to grab it. Instead he drew his arms in closer.

“My name’s Harry Potter, and I can’t say I like the circumstances, but I guess it’s nice to meet you too.” Harry said with a shrug.

“So, did your aunt really just drop you off here? I’m Kitty Pride by the way.” The Girl, Kitty, said.

“Um, yeah I guess. At first, I thought I’d just be staying with one of Uncle’s business associates again while they went on vacation but then we got here, and they said they were rid of me.” Harry said with a shrug. Kitty and Bobby looked horrified and Harry could have cursed himself then and there for his own stupidity. Why did he say that? He knew he was tired and running on empty but still. He was normally so much more self-conscious than this.

“Oh, um, do you want anything to eat?” Kitty asked.

“Maybe later. I’m way too tired to do anything right now. I got stuck next to a snorer on the plane over and it was late when I got dropped off. Do you mind if I take a nap till the child services person or whoever gets here?” Harry asked as he dropped himself onto a blue couch.

“Um, sure I guess, knock yourself out. Bathroom’s the third door on the left in the right hall if you need it.” Bobby said. Harry closed his eyes and listened as they walked out of the room, probably to go talk about him. Breathing a sigh of relief Harry settled himself down and allowed true unconsciousness to claim him as his mind drifted into sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Kitty dragged Bobby out of the room before he did anything else stupid or off putting.

“Hey!” he said in protest.

“Bobby, you idiot! You just had to stare at him like he’s some kind of animal in an exhibit!” Kitty growled.

“Staring at him?! You were doing the same thing! You’re just going after me because you’re mad at yourself!”  Bobby said as she glared at him. “Besides did you hear what he said? He said his relatives were glad to be rid of him!” Kitty slumped as her anger fled.

“Yeah I know. You think he’s a mutant? It would be reasonable if he got the X-gene from Logan.” Kitty said. Bobby grimaced.

“That is so weird. Logan, having a kid? Only a few years younger than us? It’s like- Oww!” Bobby rubbed his head while Kitty glared at him. A book was nestled in her hand and Bobby started to get nervous.

“Honestly, you’d think this was some sort of world breaking thing. It’s not Bobby. Everyone- even you- can and will probably procreate. We should be happy Logan’s got a kid. Maybe now he’ll be less likely to kill himself doing risky stuff. And now that he’s got Logan watching him Harry won’t be in a bad situation like that again.” Kitty said. Bobby paused there and seemed to deflate a little.

“Do you think they abused him?” He asked with a frown.

“Probably. They didn’t treat him well at any rate. Now though he’s got a chance of a better life.”

“And if he’s a mutant?”

“We’ll find out and if it’s true Logan will either send him to a safe house or keep him here. It really depends on how he feels about it and how safe our safe houses are.” Kitty said with a shrug.

“Will we tell him about ourselves?”

“If he’s a mutant? Yes. If not? No. We don’t know how Harry feels about mutants and even if he is sympathetic Logan probably won’t want him to know for safety reasons. Ignorance is bliss in this case. If Harry doesn’t know we’re mutants he can’t be blamed for anything pinned on us in worst case scenario. Best case scenario we come out the winners at the end and Harry and Wolverine get a crash course on being a family.” Kitty said.

“Oh… how are we going to know if Harry’s got an inactivated X-gene?” Bobby asked with a frown.

“He may already have an activated X-gene. He is rather covered up and if it is a physical mutation it would make sense considering how hot it is and how covered up he is. Did you see his ski cap and gloves? He wouldn’t even shake your hand.”

“Yeah but couldn’t that be because he was abused? I mean, don’t they have physiological symptoms or something like that?”  Bobby asked with a frown.

“It could be, but I doubt it. To hate skin-on-skin contact like that he would have had to be severely abused. And those kinds of things have signs. Really big ones.” Kitty said with a sure nod. She was taking an online college course in psychology after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan's POV. Harry's POV... and then some basic interactions within the group.

Logan hung up the phone a defeated man. Child services were _scary._ He walked back into the room and was surprised to find the kid knocked out on a couch with his owl keeping watch. He looked at the owl in confusion. Normally owls shied away from human touch, even those that had been domesticated. He gave a delicate sniff and relaxed when he smelt the normal owl scent. Well, almost normal. It was just slightly off, but luckily nothing like Mystique-off. Still, he’d keep an eye on it just in case.

“Oi, Kid. Wake up.” He said as he shook the kid’s shoulder. The kid jolted awake and flinched away in a way that made Logan frown. Green eyes met his and he saw the kid relax slightly.

“Child services are gonna be busy for a few, so yer stuck with us for a bit. I’ll show you to a guest room.”  Logan said as he grabbed the boy’s trunk (he doubted the little half-pint would be able to get it up the stairs).  He walked towards the stairs and heard the shuffle and squeak of old shoes as the kid stood and followed.  Logan moved the kid into the last dorm room on the right. It held a blue bed, white walls, a brown desk, and a chest of drawers. Logan set the trunk down at the foot of the bed and surveyed the kid. Green eyes gazed down towards the floor, but Logan knew the kid was paying acute attention to the going ons around him.

“Alright, this is where you’ll be staying for a few days. Don’t trash the room, don’t wander the halls after eight, and don’t go snooping. I’ll send Half-pint to find you when supper’s ready.” Logan growled before he walked out of the room. Logan tromped down the steps and hurried to the lift to get to the secret basement. His fingers tapped in the code on their own and Logan could feel himself losing control. He had pushed it back earlier but now he could feel the panic rising up.

He had a son. And he knew the kid was his too. The kid’s scent was a mix of Lily’s scent and his own scent. Logan thought he had left those things behind long ago. He wondered briefly who the kid would take after with his temper. Lily or himself. He hoped not himself. He hoped the kid had a cool exterior that only gave way when in distress. He also hoped that the kid had only inherited his looks and not his curse. Logan entered the elevator and unsheathed his claws to look at them. Three sharp points to fight with, three sharp points for all the sadness his life had been engulfed with. He didn’t want that for the kid. Logan pulled back his claws as the lift dinged and the doors opened.

“So, you have a kid. Congratulations.”  Hank said as he flipped through a book in front of the giant computer screen. Logan gave a hollow laugh.

“Yeah. Congrats for letting my curse live on.” Logan stepped into the room and sank heavily into one of the rolling chairs in the room.

“Charles wouldn’t be happy to hear you say that.” Hank said as he looked up to peer at him through wire rim glasses.

“Yeah, well I’m saying it. Inheriting my X-gene would be the worst thing for the kid at the point. I’d rather he got his mother’s and that’s still rather eye catching.”  Logan groused as turned around to start typing into the supercomputer.

“His mother had the X-gene?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m sure he doesn’t. While an X-gene carrier and a non-carrier can procreate and have X-gene kids it's as rare in a blue moon that the kid of two X-gene has it. Normally it skips over a generation. Also, kids with X-genes born from that union normally have a ton of health issues and while the kid is underweight he doesn’t appear to have any huge health issues.” Logan said as he searched through the documents.

“Logan, I think you might want a raincheck on that.” Hank said as he frowned up at the screen in front of him. Logan leaned over and blinked at the sight before him as dread began to haunt his stomach. The kid was lying in the bed with his feet kicked up in the air. In his hands, he swirled a black substance around as he gazed at it in boredom. Logan stared at the video feed horrified.

“We need to have him go in for a medical checkup.” Logan’s voice was rough and worried. Hank looked over at his friend in shock.

“What do you mean Logan? The boy looks fine to me. Sure, he’s skinny but he’ll start packing on some weight when his growth spurt ends.”

“No, you don’t get it! The child of two X-genes having an active X-gene isn’t- shouldn’t be- it isn’t healthy. The two genes try to combine into the kid and that never mixes well. I don’t know what is wrong with the kid now but there is going to be something wrong with him. Two X-genes in one body can cause all sorts of problems. Weakened immune systems, cancer, severe asthma, and increased blood pressure are a few of the normal problems.”  Logan growled as he jumped from his chair, prepared to rush from the room to his kid.

“Logan, stop! If you rush up there now, you’ll break all trust in the kid. He doesn't look like he’s dying this very minute so calm down. Going up there will put him in a cornered position and that’s not something we want to do. We need to think calmly and objectively in order to find the solution.” Hank said as he came to grip Logan’s arm. Logan growled and tried to rip his arm away but couldn’t.

“Let me go Hank.”  

“No. What are you going to do when you get up there Logan?”

“I’m going to make sure he’s okay and drag him down here for a full checkup.”

“No. You are not. Harry doesn’t know we’re mutants, Logan. All he knows is that his family just dropped him off with some guy they forged papers for. All he knows is that he’s just been abandoned in one of the most anti-mutant countries in the world. For all he knows, we could hate mutants and wish for their death. Don’t do this to him.”  Hanks said as he sat his friend back down in his chair. Logan relaxed and let out a great gusty sigh as his shoulders eased in defeat.

“Then what should I do? He could be dying this very moment of cancer or something. Most 2X kids don’t live past adolescence due to their X-genes activating. The kid is lucky to still be alive Hank. He’s probably slated for death any day now and he doesn’t even know it.” Logan said as he placed his head in his hands.

“That may be the case, but if you scare him to running he’ll get caught by the MRDs and that will ensure his death. We’ll need to take things slowly. Also, now that he has an active X-gene we can’t send him off to some foster family. He’ll have to stay here, Logan. That means you will be taking legal charge of him.” Logan blanched and opened his mouth, but Hank continued on. “Don’t give me that look Logan. You are his father whether you were there for his raising or not. The courts value blood more of the time than they do money. We’ll train him and teach him control as well as dealing with any health problems. It’ll be okay Logan. Harry may have some health issues but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna die. From what I got from the kid, he reminds me a whole lot of you. Antisocial, generally unfriendly, sorrowful, and with a stubborn streak a mile wide. He’ll be fine.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Harry lay on his bed and summoned the shadows to his hands. He knew it would just make him more tired, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. He was so stressed. He’d been abandoned, found, and now he was being abandoned again, by his own father! Or who the papers said was his father. Harry didn’t really know if he believed this or if it was a scam, yet. He doubted his mum would do something like that to Dad. And yet… what if he had family? Or this Logan person had a brother or something that liked kids and would take him away from the Dursleys. He froze for a moment and cursed himself. He was being an idiot. Harry had tried to stop his hopes from lifting again and yet here he was; wishing for kind relatives to come and take him away to some candy land of wonders. Harry shook his head and lost concentration on his shadows for moment. Quick as lightning, the black blobs rejoined their kind as they melted in the darkness under the bed. Harry sighed and rolled over on his back. He glanced at Hedwig and smiled.

“What do you think Hedwig? Do you think He’s my dad?”  Hedwig turned towards Harry and flapped her wings a little before letting off a loud Hoot. Translation: _Does it matter? Harry-child is Harry-child no matter the nestmaker. Just like I will always be nest mother to Harry-child._

Harry blushed at Hedwig. Most people seemed to think that Hedwig was Harry’s familiar but that wasn’t true. Harry didn’t have a familiar yet, but it certainly wasn’t Hedwig. She was more like a mother figure and always had been.

“Yeah I guess so. Having a dad doesn’t change who I am. It would just be nice you know?” Hedwig hopped over to him and nuzzled before giving a soft hoot and moving away again. Harry smiled

“Thanks Hedwig. You’re my best friend.” Harry rubbed her head gently before rolling onto his stomach again and closing his eyes. He was so tired, and he had another headache.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey sleepyhead it’s time to wake up!” A cheerful voice called.  Harry blinked as he found himself looking up into the upside-down eyes of Kitty. She was leaning over him slightly and Harry sat up before turning to face her.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“It’s time to go eat lunch and Logan sent me to wake you.” Kitty said as she offered a hand. Harry took it and slid off the bed. Then he found his too-old-trainers and put them on. He didn’t want to walk around barefoot in someone else’s house. Kitty frowned down at his trainers and Harry blushed. These were Dudley’s old trainers. They had been faded and torn before they had been given to Harry. Afterwards they had only gotten worse. Kitty turned around abruptly and started off. Harry quickly followed as she led him back into the hallway. Harry glanced around. Before he had been too tired to notice but now that Harry was looking around he realized that this place was nothing to spit at. Fancy decorations and beautiful paintings adorned the halls and Harry briefly wondered how much they cost before Kitty was pulling him along.

“Hurry up! If we’re late Bobby will eat all the good stuff!” Kitty said as she dragged Harry along. A moment later they were entering a well-stocked kitchen. Bobby, Logan, and the blonde lady sat around a brown table. Bobby had his silverware in his hands and was in a position that bespoke of banging them on the table. He grinned at them and abruptly let his silverware fall with a clatter.

“Finally! I was about to starve! Sit down and fill your plate. There’s plenty to go around.” Harry nodded and took his seat. Immediately after, Bobby picked up his fallen silverware and dove in. Harry blinked in surprise. The only other person he had ever seen eating like that was Ron. Maybe they were related?

“So is there anyone else living here or is it just you guys? And while I’m at it where is here?”  Harry asked as he looked around the room at the different faces.

“This place is called the Xavier institute for gifted children. My name is Emma Frost, I’m a teacher here. These are our two most prominent alumni, Robert Drake and Kitty Pryde. They help out and will probably be hired as professional teachers soon. Logan Birch, your father, is current interim headmaster pending the return of Charles Xavier, headmaster and founder of the Xavier institute. We also have one other staff member but he is… indisposed at the moment. There is another man who is our handyman.” The blonde lady gazed at him and Harry wilted under her icy gaze. She was kinda… cold. And hard. Like diamond. Her lips quirked, and Harry wondered fleetingly if she could read his mind before he turned to Logan.

“If this is a school then why is no one else here? Where are the students?” Harry asked.

“It’s during summer break, so all of them have returned home to their families.” Bobby said with a shrug. “Though Warren sometimes shows up to visit. He likes company that’s not all ‘hey let’s go kill half the population ‘cuz they're a little bit different’. I don’t blame him,” Bobby said. It was slightly muffled though due to the food in his mouth. Kitty frowned as Bobby waved his fork in front of her face to demonstrate. Harry blinked at that. Did Bobby just allude to…?

“Wonderful Bobby. Good explanation. Next time why don’t you try it when your mouth’s not full and people can actually understand you.” Kitty growled as she batted away his fork.

“I can understand him. My friend Ron also speaks Foodish when in the presence of food.” Harry said with a little grin. Bobby and Kitty actually reminded him of Hermione and Ron a little.

“Really? Does he look disgusting doing it too?” Kitty asked in feigned curiosity; her eyes widening just that extra bit.

“Hmmm… No, I think Ron’s Foodish is a bit more pronounced and he normally has food in his hair too… I think Bobby’s Foodish is less disgusting by about a third.” Harry said. He placed his hand on his chin as though deep in thought and pretended to contemplate Bobby who sat looking between the two with something akin to horror.

“No!” He cried, spraying bits of food everywhere. “You’ve corrupted him!” Kitty burst out laughing and Harry joined her. Even Frost looked amused.

“Oh yeah! Another one to the cult!” Kitty shouted as she raised her fist high in victory. Harry grinned at the friendship the two seemed to share and was surprised when a sense of longing struck him. Harry’s smile dimmed a little as he thought of his friends. What were they doing right now? Were they okay? How did they feel about…

“Penny for your thoughts?” Logan asked from the other side of the table next to Bobby. Harry flushed.

“Erm, its nothing. I was just thinking about my friends. I didn’t get to say goodbye to them because Uncle Vernon was afraid to miss the flight over. I attend a boarding school in scotland and don’t normally get to see them over the summer.”  Harry mumbled as he took a bite of his mashed potatoes. There, now he wouldn’t have to talk as much. Harry looked down the table at Frost. She was at her food in crisp bites and Harry briefly wondered if she was in a race with Bobby but quickly dismissed that thought. He didn’t think it held much weight.

Harry turned his head to glance at Logan before turning his attention back to his food. He needed to send Hedwig out with a letter to Sirius. Harry had heard stories of how awful Child Services are and had no intention of going with them, even if it would take a few days for them to get here.

“They must be pretty good friends if you’re this distracted about them. What are they like?”

“Well, their names are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron’s kinda “play first, work later”, but he’s got a wicked mind for strategy. Hermione’s normally pretty uptight about studying so it’s hard to get her to relax and have fun but we manage. She’s really smart though; she’s one of the best students in the school, nobody can beat her average grade. She’s probably the reason Ron and I haven’t flunked yet or been expelled.”

“They sound cool, what do you guys do for fun?” Kitty asked as she wiped her face daintily on her napkin. Bobby might like having a food mask but Kitty doubted they had the same cleansing quality as mud masks. Those really got rid of acne.

“Well, mostly we goof around I guess. Classes are pretty intense so we spend a lot of our time studying and the rest of it… I don’t know, we do lots of things I guess. Ron and I play chess. I’m on our house team to play our school sport so I practice a lot…” Harry trailed off with a shrug. What could he tell them? That they spent their time brewing illegal potions and fighting werewolves? Or maybe the part where he had faced off against a freaking basilisk and lived?

Yeah, that would go over _real_ well.

“You play a sport? What is it?” Bobby asked. Internally Harry winced. How could he make flying hundreds of feet in the air on pieces of wood and twigs normal sounding?

“It’s called Quidditch. It’s a sport only played at a select few schools around the world so its not really all that well known.” Harry said. “What do you guys do for fun?” There, switch the topic and all would be well… hopefully.

“Us… well we do lots of things. We play board games, watch TV, you know normal stuff like that. When the students get here we’ll probably have Saturdays for soccer or football though, so they can have some physical exercise. It’s actually pretty fun. I can even remember when Logan joined in a few times. He was amazing at it.” Bobby said. Kitty promptly kicked him under the table, he knew they weren’t going to be having an7 students this year. This year was for the X-men to get to work. The school was just a cover story, nothing more. Before the Incident, things may have been that way, but right now they were at war. They didn’t have time for students. Unfortunately, Harry didn’t know that, and his face lit up on hearing Bobby’s words.

“Really? Logan participated?” He asked.

“Yep, He was totally cool at it. He was like a one-man army with the ball. One time he actually jumped over a player just to get to the goal. It was super cool.” Bobby gushed. Harry blinked.

“He jumped _over_ a player?” Incredulity echoed in his tone and Harry slid his eyes to the hulking man calmly eating his mashed potatoes at the other end of the table.

“Yep! When Logan gets into a sport he doesn’t do it to lose,” Bobby smiled.

“Oi, Popsicle, that’s enough. Wouldn’t want to spread any rumors now, would we?” Logan interrupted from the other end of the table. Bobby glanced over before nodding quickly.

“Sir, yes, sir! Nor rumor spreading over here,” He said. Kitty snorted and leaned over to whisper into Harry’s ear.

_“Bobby’s terrified of Logan because he knows Logan isn’t above pranking him for revenge.”_

Harry blinked and allowed a brief smile to wash over his face. Looks like pranking would always be in his blood.

“Really?” He asked Kitty. Kitty nodded happily. “Cool.”

 


	4. Chapter 4: Grand Tour

Harry kicked his legs in boredom. Lunch had been nice but now he was feeling restless. At the Dursley’s he was always doing something, be it gardening or cleaning (they were trying to make him work twice as much because he wouldn’t be there all year like he used to). Even at Hogwarts he had never had so much free time. With homework and friends, he had forgotten what it was like to be bored and alone. Now Hedwig was out delivering his letter to Sirius and he didn’t even have her to talk to. Granted, she’d shown as much interest in the situation as she had with his last potion making book, but still. Talking it out with some form of sentience would be better than having it run wild in his head! All he could think about was whether or not it was true! Was Logan his dad? There were enough similarities for them to be related but what about James Potter? Didn’t they look like twins?

Did he want Logan to be his dad? Yes! No… maybe? If Logan would care about him and like him? If Logan didn’t like him but was his dad, could Harry be shipped off to a nice younger brother who wouldn’t mind? If there wasn’t a brother would Harry be thrown out?

Would he live on the streets? Did Dumbledore know about this? How would his friends react? Did Sirius know? Would Sirius hate him? Was Logan even his dad? How did Logan meet his mum? Did he-

 

**KNOCK!KNOCK!**

 

“Come in!” Harry called as he shot into a sitting position. The door eased open and Harry found himself blinking at the sight of one James Logan Howlett. Taking in his posture Harry could tell that the man was nervous. Harry briefly pondered starting a club. Nah, that’d just be silly.  

“Hey, Harry. You doing alright?” Logan asked. His dark eyes seemed to be looking for something in Harry. Self-consciously, Harry reached up and tugged on his ski cap.

“Uh, yeah I guess. I’m just bored.”

“You’re bored? Don’t you have a phone or an I-pod or something?” I-pod? Harry resisted the urge to look confused. If it was being tossed around like common knowledge, then it probably was. He just hadn’t heard about it while at Hogwarts. Must be some sort of Muggle technology.

“No, electronics don’t work at the school I go to.” Harry said with a shrug. “The Headmaster doesn’t even have a phone in his office.” Logan blinked and briefly pondered the weirdness of those across the pond. He couldn’t believe they would allow a boarding school to accept students if it didn’t have a phone or some form of current communications. Even if it was just an emergency phone to call for an ambulance or fire truck. Heck, the school had to have smoke detectors to keep up with the fire codes. What if someone started a fire by accident? What if somebody fell and broke a bone?

“Er, right. So, I was thinking, ya know you have to go somewhere with a responsible adult and I’ve heard there’re too many kids in foster services as is, so you should just stay here. I mean, I have to pay for you either way; being your biological father. This is a school, its uniquely equipped to handle teenagers of various temperaments. I’m sure we can fit you into the next grading period and this way I know you’re getting a good education.”  Harry froze. What? Did he just hear that right?

“Er… sorry, you want me to stay here?”  Harry asked. His heart beat like a drum in his chest and Harry knew he had a slight desperate sound in his voice but at the moment he didn’t care. Did Logan want him?

“Yeah, you may not have been… planned but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to take responsibility. You are my… son. I know that you were raised to believe that James Potter was your biological father but he’s not. I am and that means I have a responsibility to you to raise and care for you since your mother is unable.” Harry blinked and stared at him for a moment before frowning. This sounded more like someone was twisting his arm. If Logan didn’t want Harry, then Harry didn’t want to stay. Any sort of relationship without at least some mutual want or interest was bound to end badly. A dark feeling of disappointment settled in his stomach.

“If you don’t want to, then don’t. I have people who care about me that can take me in and even if I didn’t I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You shouldn’t have to force yourself to take care of me. I don’t need your charity.” Bitterness had crept into his voice and Harry struggled to hide his disappointment. For a moment there he had thought that the man had actually cared, had wanted him. But no, Logan Howlett didn’t see him as anything more than a duty to complete; he saw Harry as a burden. (And Harry was so very tired of being a burden.)

Harry turned abruptly to gaze out the window. He didn’t want to look at this man.

“Harry, I didn’t mean that, I do want to take care of you. Maybe this was a bit… unplanned and likely to be a fu-freaking migraine several times over, but I won’t abandon a kid like you. Even if you weren’t my…er- related to me I would still make sure you were safe. Maybe I wouldn’t enroll you here or keep you close by, but I would still make sure you went to a good family, kid. So, get your head straight. This isn’t charity, it's doing right by ya.” Harry stared at Logan with wide shocked eyes. Quickly he schooled his expression. Just because Logan had said he would take care of him didn’t mean he cared about him. Logan would have taken care of him no matter what. He was just a good person. He didn’t _care_ about Harry specifically. There was no reason to get all worked up.

Still though… Harry couldn’t stop the hope from blooming in his chest. Maybe they could be- well, not a family obviously, but something close to one. This could be his safe place, where he could come to relax during the holidays after Hogwarts. Harry halted. Wait…

… … …

Ice cold tendrils of horror streaked across and through his mind. _No, no, no,nonononono!_

“I-I would be attending here?” Harry asked.

“Yes, your primary courses would probably be co-taught with the local schools here but you would also be attending our own extra courses and living here,” Logan said.

“But, sir, I already have a school. I attend a boarding school in Scotland.” Harry frowned and paled.

“We’ll be transferring your credits and any other documents you need. We’re also putting you up for a dual citizenship. You’ll be starting 8th grade along with all our other applicants when school starts next term.” Logan said with a nod.

“No! I have to go back there; my friends are there, and my teachers will be worried. I-I need to attend there!” Harry’s voice raised as he spoke, and he could feel the grasping hands of terror climbing into his lungs. If he didn’t graduate Hogwarts, then how would he become a fully-fledged wizard? In order to properly practice magic, he would need his diploma; otherwise the practice of magic while in even a semi muggle area would get him arrested. Not to mention his friends! What would Ron and Hermione think when they couldn’t find him? Harry doubted they would sit still when they didn’t hear from him. And that’s not even going into the fact that Harry hadn’t attended a muggle school since he was ten. How in the world would he be able to keep up? Certainly, Hogwarts had a few mandatory basic knowledge classes like arithmetic and grammar. However, they didn’t cover a lot of things that muggles found extremely important, like the sciences or world history. The last thing Harry could remember learning at primary school was the rebellion of the colonies.

“Look kid, things might change by the time school starts again, but from where I’m standing you _need_ a standard education. Doesn’t matter if it's a fancy-shmancy boarding school or ours. My job is to give you the best education possible and right now, that means you staying and attending here.” Logan said. “Now come on, since you’ll be staying here for a while you’re going to need a tour.” And with those words of eloquence Logan strode from the room, clearly expecting Harry to follow.

For a moment Harry just stared after him. Logan had dismissed him completely. The man had just bulldozed straight over Harry without doing so much as considering his complaints or concerns. Not even Dumbledore had spoken to him like that. Certainly, the man had always won their arguments but when Dumbledore argued he took all the complaints and problems and fixed them. Logan just ignored them completely or dismissed them. The Dursleys did that too. If you weren’t a part of their ‘normal’ society then your opinions couldn’t possibly matter. Did that mean Logan was like the Dursleys? He didn’t think so; Logan didn’t seem the type. And yet… on the outside the Dursley family didn’t seem the type to drop a child off in a foreign country either.

“Oi, shrimp, are you coming or not?” Harry blinked and hurried forward, he didn’t want to make Logan mad. Outside the room, a corridor extended in both directions; one ended in a glass window frame and the other led to the large grand staircase leading down to the front entrance room. Two other hallways extended away from the staircase case landing. Various expensive pieces of decor lined the hallway and Harry wondered how much money had been put into the school.

“K, so here’s how things work. This hall here is the boys’ dorms. It can hold up to twenty-four at a time when completely full and is off limits to all females with the exception of the professors. The girls’ rooms are directly opposite on the other side of the grand staircase. Those are off limits to all guys for the sake of our sanity. The hall leading straight back from the staircase goes to the recreation room and the floor monitors and teachers’ dorms.” Logan said as he led Harry to the staircase. “Public bathrooms are also back that way, though each room has its own for privacy purposes.” Harry peered back at the middle hallway and was almost unsurprised to see even more expensive and exorbitant decorations. Who funded this place? A millionaire? It looked more expensive than Hogwarts! (of course, Hogwarts had had hundreds of years to deteriorate but still!) This was impressive.

“Down here is the front hall where guests are welcomed. We usually use a side door, but if you do use this one, make sure to wipe off your shoes; we use this room to make a good first impression.” Logan said as he stepped off the stairway and into a large, grandiose room. Harry glanced around with wide eyes.

The marble tile gleamed in the sunlight streaming in from the large, latticed window while the dust motes floated peacefully about. Soft, fabric covered settees decorated the room while various pieces of art stood majestically about great expanse of tiled floor. Great drapes hung in elegant shapes about the glass and above them the chandelier hung in solemn beauty. Harry gaped at it. Now that he wasn’t exhausted or running on instinct, Harry could really appreciate the amount of time put into the place. It would be a nice place to stay in…

“To the right of the entrance is the parlor and directly opposite is the dining room. Usually we just eat in the kitchen, though if we’ve got a full house the dining room is the only place that can hold everyone.” Logan said as he gestured to two large entrances. Though the parlor doors were closed, Harry did manage catch a glimpse of expensive silver and finery through the half-closed dining room doors. Turning abruptly, Harry hurried to follow Logan to the back of the entrance room.

“The entrance room is where important people are met and welcomed. It's not actually the best entrance to the manor; we have a garage on the side of the house where we normally enter and exit. That being said, if you don’t need to use this entrance please avoid it, it needs to stay clean for guests. Although, it is tradition for returning students and teachers to enter through it. We’ll actually be receiving Professor Munroe sometime today. She was… visiting her homeland of Africa.” Logan said. Harry frowned, hadn’t Africa been hit by a bunch of freak storms?

“Is she okay?” Harry asked. Logan turned in surprise and Harry hurried to further articulate himself. “I-I mean, I heard there were a bunch of surprise storms there and that some villages were flooded and burned. Is she okay?”  Logan blinked before nodding.

“Yeah, she got to shelter in time.” Logan said before returning to the tour. He led Harry down the main hallway until it split in different ways. “The right and left both contain classrooms for the various classes we offer here. While most student here are dual enrolled at the local schools for basic classes, we do offer several extracurricular and even a few college level courses for early graduates. We also offer tutoring and there are several extra classes that are mandatory here. An example for the mandatory would be a money management class and a basic home economics class. We try to prepare our students in every way possible.” Logan said as he pointed down the hallways. Harry could see some empty classrooms through the open doorways.

“I thought this was a private school, don’t you offer your own classes?” Harry asked as he followed Logan down the middle hall.

“We don’t really have the staff or students to provide A-grade education without throwing away some of our other extra classes. The local school is actually one of the best in the county, so we just enroll kids there for their credits. Later, they come here and do the extra classes we offer. Ya know, things like psychology or genetics. Most of them are AP classes so it gives kids a head start at college. The courses we can’t or aren’t qualified to offer physically, we offer through online enrollment through several different colleges with our staff sitting in to tutor and maintain order.”  Logan explained. Harry nodded, that made sense in a weird sort of way. Allowing kids to go to public school would let them socialize and help bring down the cost of tuition. Then, the private school could go in later and teach all the advanced stuff. Pretty smart all things considered. That it was basically a trash cans for rich kids who couldn’t ‘get with the program’ only crossed his mind a little. Really… just a little. (Stupid rich parents who wouldn’t discipline their kids and then get surprised when they don’t listen…)

“Here are some more bathrooms and the rest of the staff dorms. All the staff that are currently here are staying in these dorms. If you need us, that’s where we’ll probably be at night. Once school starts we’ll probably draw lots to see who gets to supervise the student dorms. The final room is the library and that's where all students are required to meet before and after school in order to make sure no one is missing. We also have group projects and movie nights in here.” Logan had reached the end of the hallway and Harry was unsurprised to see that it opened to a large octangular room with a single wide flat screen and several comfortable leather couches grouped around the room. The walls we covered in large book filled bookcases and Harry knew Hermione would be green with envy. Two doors led outside on either side of the flat screen telly. He could see a green backyard through the windows and what looked like a pool.

Harry walked into the room and spun in a slow circle, trying to take it all in.

“What does that lead to?” Harry asked as he pointed to some steep stairs leading up to what was (from his view) a surprise third floor.

“Those lead to the third floor where the teacher’s staff room, and the offices are. The nurse’s room is down in the basement along with several other rooms and the bunker for tornadoes. However, it is not open to students and is thus out of bounds for everyone under eighteen. Though, if you do come across an emergency all you need to do is enter your emergency code, you’ll receive it later, into that lock over there,” Logan said. He pointed at an almost invisible electronic lock on the right side of the hallway. “It will take you downstairs where Professor Hank is always on standby. However, should you go down there you will need to keep your voice down. There is an injured person down there who is currently recovering from an accident. Loud noises could interrupt his sleep and make him restless.”

“Okay, I’ll be quiet.” Harry said. He wondered about Logan’s vagueness but brushed it off. People who had secrets didn’t normally like parting with them and got angry when cornered. Besides, it wasn’t any of his business. Harry didn’t plan on staying long anyway. Though he did wonder why it hadn’t been mentioned before. He thought there was only one person staying downstairs…

“There are two doors here that lead to the pool and basketball courts. I’m sure you’ve noticed that we are surround by a forest. While the fencing surrounds our land, there are some wild animals in the forest. For your safety I would suggest staying within sight of the mansion. Right now, we’re busy with a few things so you’ll be left alone for long periods of time. I expect you to keep yourself occupied with legal, acceptable activities. I don’t care what you do, just don’t mess with anything or break any laws. You can use the pool, gaming room, even the computer room at the end of the West (to the right hall and down a few) wing. I don’t want to find you breaking or destroying property. I don’t want to find you drunk or sneaking out either. Your curfew is 9 O’clock sharp and if you disobey you’ll lose desserts and have chores. Got it?” Logan asked. Harry stared for a moment before quickly nodding his head. If he got to stay here it’d definitely be the best summer ever! He’d just have to work out the Hogwarts thing later (or run away. It wasn’t that hard, and he could ride his broom over the Atlantic...or at least he could try... would he make it before fatigue made him pass out?) Logan cleared his throat and looked down with a frown, impatient for an affirming response.

“Yes sir!” Harry said hurriedly.

“Good, Breakfast is a fix your own sort of thing during the summer but if you want anything in particular, you could ask Kitty for the ingredients. She’d probably offer to cook for you, but you should always decline. She can’t cook worth crap. Lunch is at noon and Dinner is at five. Is there anything else you need to know?”

“Ummm…”  Food? Check. Bed and roof? Check. Utilities? Check. Hedwig? “What about Hedwig? I usually supplement her with some packaged food in case she misses her catch or is sick.” Harry said. Logan nodded and looked thoughtful.

“How much do you have with you?”  He asked.

“A few more days’ worth I think.”

“Good, when Ororo takes you out clothes shopping, I’ll tell her to let you stop by the pet store on your way back.” Logan said.

“Clothes shopping?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, if you’re going to be staying you need to wear something befitting of a student here.” Logan said with a frown directed to his worn attire. Harry blushed bright crimson and knew that even the tips of his ears would’ve been turning red under his cap. It wasn’t his fault! And what right did Logan have to judge? It's not like he could have done any better if the situation was reversed!

Taking a deep breath, Harry did his best to push down his anger and regain his calm. He couldn’t think when he was angry. As he pushed his anger away, Harry became aware of another pressing mental concern. Looking up, Harry saw that Logan was already padding away.

“Mr. Logan,” Harry called. Logan turned back surprised.

“Yes?” He asked. Harry struggled not to turn away. Now that Logan was actually looking at him, he didn’t know if he had to courage to ask. And yet… he needed to know! He really needed to know. Was Logan really his dad? Did Logan remember his mum? What had happened?

“Did y-you and my mum really… I-I mean…” Harry trailed off uncomfortably. How could he say it? Was there even a right way to ask this without coming off as weird or rude? Logan frowned and as Harry watched there almost seemed to be a softening around him.

“Yeah kid, sorry ‘bout that. If I had known she was married I wouldn’t ’a done it. We’ll still do a blood test later to make sure, but I’m pretty sure you’re my kid.” Logan said. “You may have your mother’s eyes and grandfather’s glasses, but the rest of you is all me… Well, except for the nose, don’t know where you got that from.” His forced chuckle fell flat and Logan shifted his weight awkwardly. Harry blinked as he absorbed this new information.

“You’re sorry I was born?” Harry asked, bewildered. A frown pulled at his mouth and he watched as Logan seemed to catch up with what he had just said.

“No, I’m not sorry you were born. I’m sorry that my bad habits robbed you of having a married set of parents. I’m not in any way unhappy that you are here, I just wish you could have better than me.”  Logan explained. Harry frowned for a moment as he twisted the words around in his head.

“So, you do want me? You just wish you were better?” Harry asked.

“Ta be honest, it's not about wanting you or not. I just want ya ta have a good life. If it's my responsibility to ensure it, then I will.” Logan said.  Harry nodded carefully. So, Logan probably wouldn’t be like the Dursleys, though there still wasn’t any love. That… was okay. While Harry would continue to dream of a loving family, it wasn’t really that much of a necessity. He had dealt with the Dursley’s for years. Logan didn’t seem the type to take pleasure in abusing those weaker than him (though what did he know; he had hated his own godfather for a little while) so life couldn’t be horrible here. Besides, the others seemed okay, even Bobby with his messy eating.

“Can I go now?” Harry asked. He needed some time to himself to think.

“Yes, and remember: dinner’s at five.” And with that Logan was gone; heading down the hall and into the shadows of the mansion.

 

* * *

Again, this chapter has been posted for months already on Wattpad. I just really dislike AO3's way of doing things and normally procrastinate as long as possible to avoid dealing with it. Thus, if you want stuff earlier, go to my Wattpad account, its under the same name and everything. 

 

Please review.

-Blitza

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the afternoon passed without anything else of interest. Harry spent the time perusing the books in the library. Some of the books were very interesting (like a certain book with weird and funny facts about human and animal biology) while others ranged from outdated textbooks to current news articles and scientific discoveries. Eventually he settled on one about English and Irish folklore, curious to see which muggle myths were based on fact. The book actually kept him entertained for several hours. The sun was just beginning to set when Kitty entered the room.

“There you are! When you weren’t in your room, I thought you would be in the game room for sure!” She exclaimed. Harry floundered for a moment and he shifted uncertainly.

“Er-Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. Should I stay there?” Harry asked. He had thought that Logan had meant he could wander around as he pleased but maybe Harry had heard wrong and Logan had meant something else entirely...

“No, it's fine! I’m actually really happy you’re not up there rotting your brain out with that kind of stuff. When I heard you had gotten the tour from Logan, I figured you would head straight for the video games. Reading is much better for you in the long run. What are you reading?”

“Oh, uh, it's a book about old folklore; fairies and stuff like that. “ _The Old Illusions of Europe”_ is its name.” Harry said, taking a quick look at the cover.

“Cool, though I have to wonder how much of it is real, made up, or just someone mistaking your not-so-average mutant for a creature of the supernatural. I’d love to do a study on that actually, figure out just how long mutants have been influencing human culture. It must be amazing!” Kitty hummed happily as her eyes drifted from their target in excitement. After a momentary pause her eyes shot back and her spine straightened ever so slightly.

“Oh, right! I forgot! The whole reason I came to get you is because dinner’s ready! Tonight, we are having spaghetti and this time Logan cooked it! He may not look it, but if he wanted to, he could make it big in the chef world. His food’s absolutely divine!”

“Really? He doesn’t seem the type...” Harry murmured as he allowed Kitty to drag him along to the kitchen.

“I know! Apparently, he looks younger than he is and that's how he’s such a good cook. Anyway, the food will be really good tonight and we even have a returning friend to eat it with!” Kitty babbled.

“A friend? Did Ms. Munroe get here?” Harry asked.

“Professor Monroe to you, Harry. And yes, she arrived a few hours ago. I think you’ll like her, Harry. She was surprised to hear about you, but she loves kids and she’s really excited to meet you.”  Kitty smiled at him reassuringly and Harry hoped it was true. If he was going to stay here for any amount of time, being on good terms with the other residents was a must. The kitchen door opened, and Harry found himself blinking in surprise at the sight that awaited him.

Professor Munroe didn’t really look like a professor. The white shock of hair wasn’t what set her apart from the professorial look. Nor was it her stern face or sharp eyes.  Rather, it was what she wore. Like Dumbledore, her clothing didn’t really shout professor or anything of a like career. Instead, with the low buttoned blouse and the prominent showing of her midriff, she looked a bit like the women Aunt Petunia frowned at. And spat at, and ranted at, and compared his mother to. So, there was obviously no way Professor Munroe could be all bad. She still didn’t really look like a teacher though. Harry personally thought she looked a bit like one of those American cowgirls he had seen on old westerns.

“You must be Harry, it's nice to finally meet you. Bobby’s been telling me all about how he’s going to convince you to play some football with him.  My name is Ororo Munroe. During the summer you may call me Ororo but when school starts I’ll need you to call me Professor Munroe.”  

“Er, ok, sure.” Harry murmured awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you as well.” Ororo smiled and gestured to the seat next to her. “Come sit, I’m sure you're famished. Most growing boys are.” Harry smiled back and took a seat in the offered chair.

“So, I’ll be taking you shopping tomorrow, is there anything in particular you want or need?” Ororo asked as she ladled some green beans onto her plate.

“Hedwig needs some food and I think I’d like some pens and paper.” Harry carefully eased some roast onto his plate from the crockpot.

“You have a pet?” Ororo questioned.

“Yes, her name is Hedwig. She’s an owl. I’ve had her since I was eleven.” Harry said.

“An owl? Not the weirdest pet I’ve seen, but certainly an oddity. How did you end up with her?” Ororo tilted her head to the side in curiosity. Her plate now contained some delicious looking mashed potatoes that Harry would be trying as soon as the bowl was passed his way.

“She was given to me on my eleventh birthday by my first friend. One minute he’s helping me do my school shopping, the next he’s holding up a cage with the most beautiful bird in the world and saying happy birthday. Hagrid’s the best like that.” Harry smiled. His recollection of that day would forever linger on in his memory with fond tones. Sure, it had been one of the oddest, most upside-down days of his life. But it had also been the day that light had been introduced to his world. Before Hagrid had knocked down the door, Harry hadn’t known what would become of him. In truth he had figured the Dursley’s would end up killing him somehow; either through neglect or drunkenness.

“He certainly does sound nice. Is he in your class?”

“Hagrid? No way! He’s older than my parents! He’s the school’s grounds keeper and sometimes helps run errands for the headmaster.” Harry rushed to explain. The thought of Hagrid trying to fit at one of the desks in McGonagall's classroom popped into his brain and he snickered. “Hagrid is as a big as a giant, He wouldn’t even fit at a desk. He’s taller than anyone I know!”

“He certainly sounds that way. Other than owl food is there anything else you think you’ll need? Maybe some clothes in case you hit a growth spurt? Or personal things, like soap? We have soap for the students here but it's very generic, if you want something special you’ll have to get it now.” Ororo’s voice was warm as she spoke, and Harry found himself feeling not so embarrassed about asking for things.

“Um, some clothes would be nice; just a few things though, I don’t want to put you out. And I’m not particular about soap. Nothing I do to my hair ever makes a difference so the only thing soap actually does is make it smell nice and keep it clean.” Harry said with a shrug. Ororo frowned.

“As your caretakers it's our job to provide for you, don’t worry. You’re not putting the school out at all, anything you get will be paid for by Logan or by our generous sponsor.”

“But I don’t want to be a burden, especially not your sponsor. What if you don’t have enough funds to finish out the year? Aren’t most sponsors pretty uptight about how their money is spent?”  Harry asked. Hermione had complained all the time about how stingy Hogwarts sponsors were about extracurricular classes like etiquette or other more specialized forms of magic. Even on years without anything extra added to the curriculum or castle renovations (because despite its amazing magic Hogwarts did need repairs every few years) the school often had to sell its greenhouse produce and Care of Magical Creature trimmings just to break even. On a particularly busy year (like second year, with the dueling club and not being able to sell the mandrake roots), Professor Snape had had to brew potions for the entire last quarter of the year in order to keep up with the bills and ensure that the house elves could still provide good quality meals for the students. Ororo interrupted his musings with a chortle of laughter.

“Don’t worry about our sponsor Harry. Warren Worthington loves throwing money at us, once he finds out its for you in particular, he’ll be even more ecstatic.”

“He will? Why? He doesn’t even know me.” Harry asked.

“No, but he knows Logan. He’ll probably be happy that Logan’s putting some more ties down. Before the institute, Logan was a bit of a drifter. Having something more than just emotional attachment will do him well. That, and Warren loves wasting his father’s money on things he knows Worthington Senior won’t approve of. Something like a late rebellious stage I believe.” Ororo said with a smile. A fond look flitted across her face. Harry tilted his head in confusion at her statement.

“So, Mr. Warren’s giving me money to upset his dad?”

“Nah, Harry. You’ve got it all wrong. Warren’s giving you money cuz Logan’s an old friend. The fact that it gives his dad gray hairs is just a bonus really.” Bobby cut in from the opposite side of the table.

“Oh.” Harry... didn’t really know what to say to that. He couldn’t really imagine trying to make someone with authority over him mad. Well... except for Snape, but Snape was a teacher and not a parent.

“Don’t worry about it Harry, really. Eat up instead, your food is getting cold.” Kitty said from beside Bobby. Harry looked down in surprise. At some point during the conversation someone had filled his plate. A spatula came from the right and dumped a healthy helping of carrots onto the last clear spot on his plate. Looking up, Harry blinked at the smile that Ororo gave him before turning and conversing with Emma Frost on how high heels differed between countries. For a moment, Harry merely gazed around the table, taking in the easy atmosphere. Bobby and Kitty were happily joking and arguing at the same time while Ororo and Emma chatted quietly about trends in different countries with (oddly enough) Logan adding in a few well thought out comments on men’s styles now and then (though his seemed oddly dated).

It seemed surreal and Harry could almost believe that he’d wake up back at Hogwarts soon. Yesterday he had been stepping off the train for another summer spent waiting for school to start again. Last night he was told that one of his parent’s had been unfaithful and subsequently been dropped on his birth father’s door stop. In the morning he had been woken and then almost strangled by said father (Harry didn’t think he meant it, Logan just seemed... uptight about some things). Harry had been told he would be going to Child Services, then told he wasn’t going there... and now he was eating dinner with the staff of a very different boarding school than he was used to. Yes, Harry almost expected to wake up back at Hogwarts any moment now.

 

And yet...

If this wasn’t some strange dream and it was reality... then it wasn’t a bad reality. The banter around him was light and airy. The atmosphere was almost like what he imagined a family would be like. Even as Bobby dragged Logan into an argument and kitty told both older woman how old fashioned they were the atmosphere remained light and happy. It was different from the Weasleys in that while there was obviously care and love here, there wasn’t such a clamor and imbalance. If Harry had to spend a summer here it probably would be the best summer he’d ever had.

 

Harry smiled down at his plate and began to slowly consume to food given to him. This place wasn’t perfect. Not yet. The people here had scars and secrets that would probably make a big mess when they came out.

 

But ... it had the potential to be more than Harry thought he’d ever have. Maybe someday soon, he could call this strange place home and mean it.

* * *

Again, this and several other chapters, show up on Wattpad ages before AO3,  simply because I don't like AO3. So, if you want some entertainment/chapters earlier, head there.

 

Please review,

~Blitza


	6. Chapter Six

Harry slept like the dead that night. Even though there hadn’t been anything physically challenging that day, he still felt tired and wrung out from his emotions. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out and didn’t wake until the next morning when sunshine began filtering through the white curtains. For a moment, he just watched as the light dazzled down and highlighted the airborne dust particles on its way. Looking around he felt the normal moment of confusion as he struggled to place where he was (this happened often, after living in a cupboard for ten years of life it still felt weird to wake without seeing the wood grain of the stairs or the flickering light from his single light bulb). Then he blinked and sat up fully as he looked around the bedroom he had been given. This would likely be his room for the next few months. It was pretty plain in comparison to the Gryffindor dorms, but he knew it probably fit the norm for non-magic boarding schools. In fact, he was a bit surprised that the institute provided bedding at all. He had thought the students would bring their own. Harry turned and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Logan had said breakfast was a fix your own kind of thing, but Harry didn’t know what time Ororo wanted to leave for their shopping trip. It was seven thirty-five. Harry figured she wouldn't’ want to leave before nine and grabbed his nicest pair of old jeans and a large T-shirt that didn’t have any holes or noticeable stains. Then he promptly did the ‘morning shuffle’ (the one where the body isn’t quite awake yet and must waddle like a penguin) into the bath room. Once he was there he took a long moment to blink the sleep out of his eyes and properly observe the place.

To say the bathroom was nice was an understatement. Dark teal cement tile lined both the floor and the walls with a cream-colored rug next to the shower. The sink was lined with some sort of cream colored granite while the cabinet beneath was fine wood stained to almost black. A cream wicker shelf held several towels and other bathing necessities like shampoo and several very nice sponges and wash rags. The toilet was cream and looked to be one of the newest models. Harry marveled at them before turning his attention to the shower.

To say he liked it was an understatement. The shower was perfection incarnate. Not even the Gryffindor showers could top this. Gorgeous two by two-inch, cream tile covered the floor. Six-inch tile covered the walls in a checkerboard pattern of the dark teal and cream that the rest of the bathroom was decorated with. Instead of a shower curtain, there was a clear glass door that hung from stainless steel hinges.

For a moment Harry admired the obvious wealth that had been invested in the bathroom. Then he grinned.

* * *

 

 

After his (very) refreshing shower, Harry dressed and hurried down stairs. He had on the T-shirt and jeans with mismatched socks and his old trainers. The ski cap had been replaced by a (slightly) newer blue one and his hands were gloved against the world. His wand was held by the waist of his belted up blue jeans. He had spent more time than he meant to getting ready and while cereal was good, it could never compare to a nicely cooked meal of eggs and bacon. To his surprise the only person in the kitchen was Frost. She was sitting on the window ledge drinking a cup of coffee. The woman’s gaze was distant and cold as she looked out onto the grounds.

“Good morning, Professor Frost.” Harry said quietly. He hadn’t made much noise coming in and with the woman so distracted he didn’t want to startle her. Frost didn’t even blink though as she continued to nurse her coffee.

“Hello, Harry. Did you sleep well? We had another of our staff drop in last night and he was a bit loud. He didn’t wake you, did he?” She turned her face towards him as she spoke, and Harry noticed the dark bruising under her eyes easily.

“No, I didn’t hear a thing. Is he okay?” Harry didn’t ask about Professor Frost’s health. From what he had seen of her, she wouldn’t appreciate his pointing out any perceived weaknesses.

“Scott is fine. He was just a bit drunk last night; if you see him try not to antagonize him. He might still be a bit hung over.”  Though the professor kept her tone professional, Harry thought he could still discern some disgust at her colleague’s actions. Harry frowned but didn’t ask anything more. It wasn’t really his business anyway. He did make a note not to bother this Scott person though. He didn’t sound very pleasant.

“Do we have any eggs or anything? Mr. Logan said that Breakfast was a free for all. He said I could just fix my own so long as we have the ingredients.” Harry said. He shifted slightly as her gaze sharpened.

“You can cook? That’s a bit surprising, Harry. Most boys your age find the kitchen a foreign territory. Would you care to allow me to watch you cook? If you are going to be doing this often I would like to be able to ascertain that you won’t burn the building down.” Emma Frost stood and made her way to the bar that separated the eating area from the cooking area. Then she pulled out a chair, set her coffee on the counter, and leaned back comfortably. She was expecting to be unimpressed. Obviously. Harry’s eye twitched for a moment before he released the tension in his shoulders with a gusty sigh. It wasn’t like he had never been watched while making food. His aunt did that all the time. Besides, Professor Frost looked like she could use the food. She was a bit thin.

“Sure, how do you like your eggs?” Harry asked as he slipped on an apron and started looking under the counters for an appropriate pan. Frost opened her mouth to reply but before she could another voice piped in.

“Ooh! Are you making breakfast? What are you cooking? Can I have some?” Harry yelped before turning around quickly. His grip on the pan slipped and it flew from his hands.

 _“Oomph!”_ The newcomer fell back from the force of the pan and hit the wall with a bang.

“Hello? Is everyone alright?” Ororo called from the hall. Her heels clicked as she hurried over.

“Don’t worry. Everyone is fine; Forge merely discovered why startling teenagers with heavy objects is a bad idea.” Frost called as she walked around the bar to get a better view of Forge’s sprawled form. Harry blinked as the… oddly dressed man started to twitch and wake from his blunt trauma induced stupor.

“Ughhh... now I know what he inherited from Logan.” The man, apparently called Forge, groaned and rubbed at his head. Dark eyes lifted and Harry found himself taking a step back as he realized what he’d done.

“S-sorry!” Harry stuttered as cold fear pulled the color from his face. “It was an accident, I didn’t mean to, I swear!”

“Woah, kid! Calm down, geez, it was just an accident. No need to get so upset. It’s not like you murdered someone. Besides, Logan used to do worse when he got spooked.”  Forge said as he stood. Harry allowed himself to take in the man’s strange attire. Forge was dressed in what appeared to be a dark navy, semi form fitting bodysuit. He wore a yellow X themed belt with and yellow and navy jacket over. Even weirder though was his choice of footwear. On one foot, he wore a brown moccasin looking boot, and on the other was some sort of metal prosthetic limb. His face at least, was somewhat normal, even with his odd goatee-mustache-beard thing.

“Err- anyway, my name’s Forge. Not sure if Logan told you about me but I’m the handy man around here. If anything breaks or isn’t working quite right feel free to come find me.” Forger offered his hand and Harry shook it.

“Hello, my name’s Harry. It’s nice to meet you. I really am sorry about hitting you with the pan.” Harry apologized again. 

“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, your dad used to do way worse when I startled him. I don’t suppose you’ll let me have a helping of whatever you’re cooking though?” The dark eyes pleaded at him and Harry gave a gusty sigh before smiling.

“Sure, take a seat.” Harry said and gestured over to the chair next to Frost. He glanced over at Ororo; she still stood in the archway and watched the scene with a somewhat amused expression.

“Would you like some eggs as well Ms. Munroe?” Harry asked. If he was going to be cooking for Forge and Frost, it wouldn’t really make much of a difference to cook for Ms. Munroe as well.

“No thank you, Harry. I’m not much of a heavy breakfast eater. I’ll just be having some fruit I diced up last night.” Ororo moved into the room then and bypassed Harry on her way to the fridge. As she walked by, she ruffled his hair affectionately. For a moment Harry stiffened before relaxing and returning to the stove. He grabbed the pan from the ground and winced at the large dent in one side. _Whoops..._   

Setting it aside, Harry turned to the fridge and grabbed the eggs. Pausing for a moment he grabbed the bacon too. Within moments he had a second pan out and was enjoying the usage of a gas stove as his food cooked. Harry flipped a few pieces of bacon over before turning one of the eye’s off and shoveling three portions of scrambled eggs onto some plates. He waited for the bacon to finish cooking before doing the same to it. He handed one plate first to Frost and one to Forge before settling himself between Forge and Ororo.

“Wow, these are great, Harry!” Forge enthused. He rapidly shoveled the eggs into his mouth and hummed in appreciation. Frost ate more sedately, but held a smile on her lips as she enjoyed the delicious breakfast.

“You are a very good cook, Harry. Where did you learn?” Frost asked after a few bites. Harry blushed at the praise and looked away.

“My aunt taught me. I’ve been doing it since I could reach the stove.” **_On a stool._** Harry was careful to only say the last bit in his head. He didn’t think it would go over well and the last thing he needed was people thinking he needed to be pitied.

“You’ve had a lot of practice then huh? Neat. Whenever I try to cook something on a stove it turns inedible. Don’t get me wrong, I can cook. I just prefer to cook over an open fire. Much more relaxing.” Forge said with a sheepish smile. Ororo giggled and gave a happy grin as she peeked over at him.

“Have you still not been able to relax when cooking indoors?”

“Nope. Hank forbid me to try again after setting the kitchen on fire again. I’m banned from touching the stove on pain of setting off the alarms.” Forge chuckled as he stood to take his plate to his sink. “Let me have your plate, Harry. You cooked, I’ll clean.” Harry mutely handed his plate of with a nod of thanks. It was nice to not have to clean up too.

“Are you about ready to leave, Harry? We’ve got a lot of shopping if you need an entire wardrobe.” Ororo asked as she herself placed her dish next to the sink.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” His wand was at his waist and he didn’t have anything he needed to grab.

  
 

* * *

The shopping mall Ororo took him to was huge. It flooded his senses with sounds, smells, and bright colors as soon as he stepped through the sliding glass doors.  It was bigger than any grocery Harry had been dragged to by Aunt Petunia. Though Diagon Alley was certainly large and overwhelming, it was all at ground level. This, was a compilation of an innumerable number of stores that continued upwards for a least several floors. It extended higher than he cared to look and was filled to the brim with people of all sorts. Families, couples, and more than a few single shoppers crowded each floor in flurry of movement and color. Their voices echoed about the great structure in a constant buzz of noise. It pained his ears and Harry couldn’t help lifting a hand to rub under his blue ski cap at the aching appendages.

He continued to walk behind Ororo and noticed that she had no such discomfort. It probably didn’t bother her. To distract himself, Harry turned his attention to what else he could sense. His nose twitched at the tantalizing scents wafting from the food court. Even though he had just eaten, Harry found his mouth watering at the delicious smells. He was rather grateful when Ororo ducked into a clothing store. It was both quieter and scented with the soft scent of vanilla candles. Harry relaxed as he took a moment to appreciate the peace it gave his senses. Then he realized how expensive the store was.

“Ms. Munroe! We can’t shop here. It’s too expensive.” Harry hissed. He shied back from the nearest clothes rack and looked furtively towards the cashier. Luckily, the smartly dressed woman was pre-occupied checking out a customer. They could still escape before the woman noticed them.

“It's’ fine Harry. The money is coming from the school and, if need be, your father’s salary.” Ororo laid a hand on his shoulder and began steering him to the teen’s section. Harry stumbled.

“But that doesn’t mean I should use it extravagantly! There are tons of stores that are much less pricey.”

“Nonsense Harry, you need new clothes. This store sells good quality clothes that will last well. Besides, what you wear will reflect on the school. The Xavier Institute was once one of the most respected private schools in America. Anything of less quality will reflect poorly on the school. At any rate, we’re only here for some dress clothes; something to wear on Sundays and other slightly more formal occasions. We’ll be getting your everyday clothes from another store. We’ll need to go somewhere else for shoes as well. Your father will take you to get your suit.”  Harry grimaced but didn’t complain. He didn’t want to ruin the school’s reputation and so long as it was only a few things from this store it wouldn’t be that bad.

Harry stepped further into the teen’s section and looked around. So far most of this stuff was button ups and the like. They had some dress slacks further to the back, along with some nice khaki colored pants.

“How many outfits do I have to get?” Harry asked as he began to look around for a clearance rack.

“Six or seven nice ones will do for now, we can always get more later if it turns out you need more. Let’s get your button-ups and few blazers first.” Ororo said as she began looking through a rack of light blue button ups.

“Ok. Do I need any specific colors?” Harry asked as he went to look through a few green ones.

“One or two white ones would be good, maybe a black one if you need to attend a funeral. Light blue is generally fashionable and easily matched. You might also try some green to bring out your eyes. It really is up to you though, Harry. What colors do you like to wear?”

 

* * *

 

 

    In the end, Harry exited the store with three white shirts, one black shirt, a light mint shirt, and two light blue ones. He had several pairs of nice khakis and slacks, along with an actual leather belt to go with. Ororo had insisted on a black blazer to wear over them at certain formal occasions and even forced him to get a leather vest she had noticed him looking at. All in all, they had spent far more than Harry was comfortable in the store. It left him feeling discomfited and out of whack. Of course, walking back out into the mall was not helping either.

After the quiet atmosphere of the brand name clothing store, the bustling mall was overwhelming to his ears. While He and Ororo had been within the high price clothing store, the mall had gone from early hours to midday rush. Thousands of voices bounced off the concrete walls and glass windows. High and low, young and old, the voices of a thousand shoppers attacked Harry’s ears without mercy. Their shoes slapped against the pavement like some deranged drummer. His nose wasn’t much better as it picked up on hundreds of scents that had either gotten stronger, or clearly not been here in the earlier hours of the mall’s opening. Whereas before, there might have been a few hundred customers within the mall, there was now well over a thousand. Each shopper had their own personal scent and with noon time soon approaching, the food kiosks were beginning to truly get into the swing of things. The aroma earlier had been persistent and mouthwatering, but now it was like being hit with a sledge hammer.

Within a few steps Harry felt as if he had been hit head on by a truck. With a gasp, he clapped his hands over his blue ski cap in a futile attempt to block out the world. His vision blurred for a moment and he fumbled his footing. Taking a few shaking steps to the side Harry lean his weight against a wall. The world wobbled around him as the noise obstructed his ability to focus. Each breath felt like it burned, and Harry struggled to resist the urge to vomit. His breaths became shorter and faster as he began to feel dizzy.

“Harry?!” Ororo’s voice sounded slightly more distinct than the other multitudes of them. Harry tried to lift his chin to look at her but all he succeeded in doing was making himself even more dizzy. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to stop the worsening nausea as the overwhelming scent of grease continued to pervade his nose. The sounds began to blur together, and his sense of self began to feel less distinct. All he could think about was the noise and overwhelming smells that made him want to fade into oblivion. His hands dug sharp fingernails into his knit hat as though to ground himself from the pain.

“Harry, ---- wrong? ------ ----- okay?”  Hands gripped his shoulder and Harry used their support to keep from toppling over. The strength was leaving his knees when he felt the hands holding him strengthen their hold. On reached to take one of his hands from his head. A second later and there was another shoulder under his, supporting him.  

“Harry, - -- ----- -- need --- -- ---- me. Walk, Harry. ---- --- ---------.”  It moved him away from the wall, holding him up when he slumped and wobbled. Harry opened his eyes only to close them again at the bright light that blinded him and made his head feel even worse. At this point, Harry felt as though he were barely coherent; hanging onto consciousness by a thread. He wasn’t sure whether he liked that thread of not. Instead of contemplating that, Harry used all of his remaining willpower to stumble along.

Harry felt as though he was running out of strength when a blast of fresh air assaulted his skin. Suddenly, the overwhelming barrage of sound lessened and grew distant. A moment later it disappeared completely; being replaced by wind and distant cars. The overpowering stench changed from the repugnant scent of packed humans and greasy food to the slightly less invasive smell of warm asphalt and old metal. Harry almost and would have slumped down in relief had the arms wrapped around him not tugged him onwards. A few more fumbling steps and Harry was gently lowered to sit on a hard surface. If he had not felt so pitiful, he might have looked to see where he was.

Instead, Harry struggled to breathe in sharp gasps and whimpers as the pain in his head continued to pound. His hand, now released, rose back to the side of his ski hat. For the next eternity, all Harry could do was sit and breath. Slowly, the pounding began to recede into a heavy ache at the back of his head and behind his eyes. The nausea settled slowly in his stomach; not painful anymore but still very much queasy and uncomfortable.

“Harry, can you hear me now? Harry?” The voice was painful, and Harry jerked away, a gasp escaping his mouth as he dug his gloved fingers into his head. He whimpered as gentle hands rested on his own. Why did the noise hurt so much? What was wrong with him?

“Shhh, Harry. It’s going to be okay. I need to look though, okay?”  This time the voice was quieter, more like a whisper. The hands moved his own hands down to rest on his lap before rising back to the ski cap again. With a gentle slowness, they pulled off the ski cap. Harry whimpered as his tender ears were pulled with the knit cap. Air tickled his tears and Harry couldn’t help but relax a little at the feeling. A sharp intake of breath in front of him had Harry stiffening up again. He pulled his ears closer to his head and curled away from whoever was in front of him. Surely, they wouldn’t be so nice and quiet now.

“Oh, Harry...” Still quiet, the voice sounded sorrowful. Harry tried to open his eyes and immediately regretted it. Bright light sent his hands from his over stimulated ears to his cover his eyes as he let out a gasp of pain. He shuddered and rubbed at the burning pain in his eyes. Fear coiled in his stomach.

“Harry!” Though still quiet the voice sounded anxious. This was reflected when a thin hand soothed over his hair. “Don’t open your eyes right now. You’re experiencing an acute hyper sensory overload. Right now, your body can’t take too much more stimulation, or you might go into shock or worsen. It’s okay, I’m going to take you back to the Institute. We can get you some help there. I know this must seem strange to you, but I promise it’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“M-Munroe,” Harry gasped out softly as he realized who was next to him.

“Uh-huh, it’s me, Harry. It’s okay, it’s just me. I’m going to get you home. Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”  Ms. Munroe spoke slowly and softly, as if she knew he was having trouble comprehending her. Then she withdrew her hand from his head. A moment later Harry heard her shuffling through her purse. “I’ve got some sun glasses Harry. They’ll help your eyes.”

“Wh-why is this h-happening? It’s ne-never bef-f-fore,” Harry stuttered out erratically. Only now, he realized he was trembling and shaking like a leaf. His ears were sore and ached like they had been rubbed raw and exposed to open air.

“Shhh... Harry, don’t talk. You need as little stimulation as possible right now. Here, I’ve found my sunglasses.” Smooth edges scoured across the sides of his face before coming to rest under his ears. “Don’t open your eyes yet Harry. The sunglasses will help, but we need to get you home first. We’re in the back parking-lot. I’m going to lead you around to the car. Do you think you can walk?”

Harry flexed his legs and nodded shakily. His head still hurt, and he didn’t really feel ready to get up yet, but he knew they couldn’t stay here. Someone would see them. He felt about for his ski cap but felt Ororo grab his hand.

“The ski cap will put pressure on your ears. Hold this on your head instead.” Something soft and fluffy was placed on his head. “It’s a blanket.” Ororo explained as he found the ends of it and pulled it just tight enough to hide his ears. It felt much better than cramming his ears into a ski cap. “Alright, ready to go? One, two, three.” Ororo said as she gripped his elbow and pulled him to his feet. Harry wobbled, unable to balance when the world still felt upside down. Ororo steadied him and together they began walking. Harry focused wholly on putting one foot in front of the other, but he gradually became aware of human voices and cars that were much closer. The noise brought back the pounding in his head and his back stiffened at the pain.

“Harry?” Ororo asked. Harry heard her take a deep breath before continuing. “It’s okay Harry. We’re entering the front parking lot so there are some people getting here of leaving. It’s okay though, because you are going to focus completely on my voice. Over here Harry. Can you hear me? I’m right here with you.” Ororo began to babble as she urged him to quicken his faltering pace. Though she still spoke softly her voice gained an almost brittle tone to it. It sounded like she was worried. Harry’s breathing quickened, and his hands went up to clutch at his ears.

“No, Harry. We're almost there. Come on, you can do it. Listen to my voice. That’s it. I’m right here, Harry.”

Her arms around him forced him forward until she finally stopped. By this point, Harry’s breaths were coming in quick pants that Harry couldn’t seem to get any air from. His stomach was painful again thanks to the pungent odor of gasoline and he could barely hold himself upright. Rather, he was sure he would have toppled over if not held by Ororo. Harry could no longer differentiate Ororo’s voice from the different sounds floating about his head. When she stopped, he swayed forward before she steadied him. Then she leaned him against something warm. A moment later and he was being lifted into a warm, leather seat. Her hands left him then and he slumped exhaustedly into his seat. A second later and all sound cut off. The pungent odor of the parking lot vanished as well. For a few minutes, it was all Harry could do to sit and breathe without vomiting or toppling over. After an undeterminable length of time, Harry finally gained enough self-awareness to focus somewhat on his surroundings again. His breathing had slowed, and Harry realized that he could faintly smell the scent of all-natural cleaning supplies. It was oddly quiet.

“M-Ms. M-Munr-roe?” Harry stuttered out almost inaudibly.

“I’m here Harry. You made it to the car. We’re heading back home now. It’s going to be okay.” Harry moved his head slightly but didn’t nod. He didn’t think he’d be able to do it without vomiting and anyway, he was dead tired. This in mind, Harry leaned his head back against the head rest and let unconsciousness take him.

 

 

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Again, I post on wattpad first and then other places. If you want the fresh stuff head over there. 

 

 

 

 


	7. Storm's View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Look through Storm's eyes concerning the Mall Incident.

 

 

Ororo didn’t realize something was wrong until she was several feet away from the men’s clothing store she had taken Harry to. By then it was already too late in terms of repressing the attack. Instead, by the time she realized she wasn’t being followed by the soft padding feet that belonged to Harry, he was already stumbling back to lean against a wall for support. His face was gray, his hands were balled against his head, and Ororo could tell he was on the verge of passing out.

Ororo could only blame herself and being out of practice for not noticing Harry was having problems. As a teacher at a school for mutants, Ororo had had many students with enhanced or sixth senses. It was not the first time she had seen a mutant suffering from hyper sensory overload. Unfortunately, time away from her field, as well as being unaware Harry might have these issues, meant that Ororo wasn’t looking for the signs. So, instead of noticing and avoiding the coming sensory attack, Ororo was only able to help Harry deal with it.

The first thing she did was try to see if Harry was still able to hear her and knew what was going on. If he knew he was susceptible sensory overload and already had a medication or treatment method, she would need to know in case medication had to be administered. She didn’t want to overdose him.

“Harry, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Ororo asked. There was no response and Ororo felt her worry deepen at how out of it he was. She reached out to grip his shoulders, hoping the touch would pull him out of his head a bit, but ended up supporting a large part of his weight. She strengthened her hold before draping one of his arms over her shoulders. The first thing she could do was get him somewhere quiet.

“Harry, I am going to need you to help me. Walk, Harry. You can do it, Harry.” Ororo kept her voice calm and even toned. She spoke as quietly as possible while still ensuring that Harry could hear her, even if he wasn’t really understanding or comprehending her. Steadily she led him to the rear entrance to the mall, leaving all the bags except the one still hung on her arm behind. She got out through the back entrance by distracting a store clerk and sneaking out of the loading area of the store. As soon as the door closed behind them, Harry sagged in her arms. It was obvious that he could already tell the difference between the back parking-lot and the crowded mall. She pushed him forward a few more feet before allowing him to slump down to rest on the curb. His body trembled with tension and his breaths cam in quick, short gasps. Ororo watched him critically for the next few minutes. Luckily his breathing did begin to steady and though still deathly pale, Harry did begin to lose the gray pallor he had gained within the mall.

After a few more minutes, Ororo decided to check his hearing. The sooner she could get him out of here, the sooner he could receive real medical help from Hank.

“Harry, can you hear me now? Harry?” Ororo asked quietly. Unfortunately, it was not quite quiet enough because Harry immediately moved to cover his ears and shy away from her. The sight broke her heart. Poor Harry had his eyes scrunched as tight as he could get them while his hands scrabbled over his ski hat to block out sound. Harry’s skin was pale and clammy. Though Ororo wasn’t focused on his breathing, she could tell from a glance that it was too quick and shallow to serve its purpose. His mouth was set in a grimace and his brow was furrowed. It was obvious from Harry’s expression that he was in a lot of pain.

Ororo frowned. She needed to check if there was any bleeding. If there was that could mean he’d busted an ear drum or that there was internal damage. Ororo lowered her voice into the quietest whisper she could muster when she spoke again.

“Shhh, Harry. It’s going to be okay. I need to look though, okay?”  Ororo slowly and gently pulled his hands down to rest in his lap before slowly easing the knit cap off. Harry whimpered slightly and Ororo could tell why immediately. Sitting upon Harry’s head were two black feline ears. When she had pulled the cap off, she had further irritated the already pained appendages. Harry leaned further away from her and again pulled his hands up to cover his flattened ears. He was obviously fearful of her reaction.

“Oh, Harry...” Ororo murmured sorrowfully. Harry was a mutant and he likely hadn’t even known he was among friends. Ororo could only imagine how stressful and fearful the last few days had to have been. Harry had been dropped off in one of the most anti-mutant countries in the world, with people he didn’t even know. He’d likely been so scared of being revealed as a mutant and carted off to the MRDs.

At her voice, Harry tried to open his eyes and doubled over in pain. His gloved hands covered his eyes and he gasped at what Ororo knew to be an intense burning sensation in his pupils and especially his retina.

“Harry!” Ororo murmured in worry. She hoped he had not just burned out the nerves in his eyes.

“Don’t open your eyes right now. You’re experiencing an acute hyper sensory overload. Right now, your body can’t take too much more stimulation, or you might go into shock or worse. It’s okay, I’m going to take you back to the Institute. We can get you some help there. I know this must seem strange to you, but I promise it’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Ororo tried to assure him.

“M-Munroe,” Harry said. Ororo frowned as she realized that he had been so out of it that he hadn’t even recognized her until now. Even now, he was probably still having trouble discerning his surroundings with any sort of clarity. She wondered how much Harry really understood about what was happening to him.

“Uh-huh, it’s me, Harry. It’s okay, it’s just me. I’m going to get you home. Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”  Ororo slowed down her words and was careful to speak simply. If Harry wasn’t up to understanding much she didn’t want to force him. Ororo turned to quietly shift through her purse. “I’ve got some sun glasses Harry. They’ll help your eyes.”

“Wh-why is this h-happening? It’s ne-never bef-f-fore,” Harry stuttered out painfully. Ororo felt her heart break at the fear present in his voice. She had though this was the first time Harry had problems with his senses, but this confirmed it. He was likely terrified.

“Shhh... Harry, don’t talk. You need as little stimulation as possible right now. Here, I’ve found my sunglasses.” Ororo whispered as she slid his wire frame glasses off his sweaty head and replaced them with her own sun glasses. “Don’t open your eyes yet Harry. The sunglasses will help, but we need to get you home first. We’re in the back parking-lot. I’m going to lead you around to the car. Do you think you can walk?” Now that Harry was somewhat stable, she wanted to get him home as quickly as possible. She felt relief when Harry nodded. Harry may have been small for an almost-fourteen-year-old, but she wasn’t exactly the bulkiest of women. Carrying him out to the car would have been difficult and she likely would have dropped him.

Harry reached for the ski cap but Ororo quickly grabbed his wrist.

“The ski cap will put pressure on your ears. Hold this on your head instead.” Turning, Ororo reached into the remaining shopping bag and pulled out a soft, light blue blanket. She had stepped out to grab it while Harry had been in the changing room. Ororo had noticed he had a preference to light blue while in the men’s clothing store and had stepped out while he was in the changing room. The rooms at the Institute weren’t very personal so Ororo had thought Harry would appreciate something more accommodating to his personal preferences. Now, Ororo was doubly glad. This blanket would be the best thing for Harry to hide his ears with.

She unfolded the blanket swiftly before gently pulling it over Harry’s head. It may look odd, but at least it was safe. “It’s a blanket.” She explained. Ororo turned and gripped Harry’s elbow tightly.

“Alright, ready to go? One, two, three.” Ororo surged to feet with Harry. The boy wobbled a little, so she moved her shoulder against him for some support. Once Harry was steady, Ororo tugged him forward. Harry’s gait was unbalanced and Ororo wondered if it was because he felt faint or if he just wasn’t used to walking without the aid of sight. Within a few minutes, the two were entering the front parking lot. Harry slowed and stiffened, obviously picking up on the changed environment loud and clear with his over sensitized senses.

Harry?” Ororo asked. He didn’t answer her. She took a deep breath. The oncoming few minutes would likely be very painful to him.

“It’s okay Harry. We’re entering the front parking lot, so there are some people getting here or leaving. It’s okay though, because you are going to focus completely on my voice. Over here Harry. Can you hear me? I’m right here with you.” Ororo said. She continued to pull Harry forward while nattering on about how good he was doing and how soon he’d be able to relax a bit. Unfortunately, it didn’t help much. Harry’s pace was slowing and Ororo could tell she was barely registering on the young mutant’s senses. His breath was coming in quick gasps and he had raised his arms to grasp at his ears again.

“No, Harry. We're almost there. Come on, you can do it. Listen to my voice. That’s it. I’m right here, Harry.” Ororo wrapped her arms around the boy and pulled him forward. She grew more concerned the farther they walked. Harry’s breathing wasn’t getting any better and it was beginning to show in his purpling lips. His face had reverted to the gray pallor of before and Ororo found herself supporting Harry’s weight more and more. Thankfully they didn’t have much farther to go to get to the X-van. Ororo helped Harry hobble the next few yards before leaning him against the warm car siding. She opened the back door as quietly as she could, before tugging Harry back up from his slouched position. Ororo seated him into the black leather seat and pushed him gently back into seat where he slumped limply. Ororo bit her lip before quickly buckling him into the seat and closing the door. She was never more thankful for the X-men’s policy of sound proofing everything.

Ororo leaned against the door tiredly before pulling out her new cell phone. She hit the speed dial and waited while it rung. It picked up on the second ring. Ororo didn’t wait for the receiver to speak before she bulldozed in.

“Logan, I need you to tell Hank to prep the med bay for Harry.” Ororo ordered. “Tell him to bring out the white noise generators and to prep a private room with dim lighting. Also, make sure its scent free.”

“W-What? What happened to Harry?!” Logan asked. Ororo could hear the fear in his voice and grimaced. Logan had a good deal of experience dealing with hurt or sick mutant kids, but it seemed even he wasn’t immune to the worry of a parent. Luckily, she had a good deal of experience dealing with worried parents.

“Harry had a sensory overload at the mall today. It wasn’t severe, but it was midlevel, and Harry wasn’t aware of his surroundings for large amounts of time. I’ve got him loaded into the van now. He’s semi stable so I want to suggest an all-natural treatment instead of medication.” Ororo said as she turned to walk to the driver’s side. Over the phone, Logan’s breath whooshed out in a crackling noise.

“Damn… Is the kid okay?” Logan asked.

“The attack freaked him out. He was scared and didn’t know what was going on or why his body was reacting like that. I don’t think Harry’s been around such a big group of people since he activated his X-gene.”

“What does his X-gen have to do with it? I thought he could control shadows?” Logan asked, befuddled.

“Harry can manipulate the shadows? Interesting, but no. Harry has a physical mutation where he has the ears and hearing of a cat. I believe the rest of his senses are likewise enhanced. Anyway, please make sure that Hank preps a low-sensory room and is aware of the situation. I’m going to start driving and I don’t want to worsen Harry’s condition by talking in the car.”

“…I will.”

“Don’t worry Logan. Harry’s going to be okay. This attack was only mid-range. We caught it in time and we can ensure there won’t be a next time.”

Again, there was silence on the other end of the line.

“Thanks, Storm. Get him home.”

 

 

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Again, I update first on Wattpad then on other places. This is like... half a year old. I just really don't like using this sight cuz I feel like I'm betraying fanfiction.net which is both my fav and the place I first encountered fanfiction.


	8. Chapter 8

Logan had been waiting on the front steps for half an hour before the black X-van pulled up the driveway. Hank stood a little behind him with a stretcher. Bobby and Kitty watched from within the mansion so as not to cause any more discomfort to Harry’s already overstimulated senses. Forge was out doing some small-time repair work in the city; one of the jobs he had picked up after the explosion. Summers was out doing who-knew-what at who-knew-where. And Frost, against his wishes, stood slightly off to the side of the front doors.

She was there in case Harry was conscious and in pain. Should that be the case, Frost had stated that she would step in to temporarily override his mind in order to calm his senses.

Logan truthfully didn’t want the mind-witch anywhere near Harry as far as mental abilities were concerned. He did, however, recognize her usefulness in this particular area. Telepaths had the ability to calm, or depending on their power and skill, control the raging abilities of young mutants. It was one of the qualities that made them such good teachers for the next generation. Their ability to calm out-of-control teenage mutants made them the perfect teachers and often, as in Charles case, presidents or headmasters of mutant schools.

So, while Logan didn’t enjoy her personal presence, he did understand the benefit Harry would receive should he be conscious and in pain.

As the van rolled up, Logan hurriedly stepped down the mansion steps and onto the driveway. He cautiously opened the back door and let his breath whoosh out of him in relief. Harry was asleep. An exhausted sleep, but a peaceful one nonetheless. Turning, he gave the ‘Okay’ symbol to Hank and the others.

From the other side of the car, Storm approached.

“He’s been asleep the entire ride.” She whispered. “He hasn’t reacted at all since then. I think his sense are in the process of winding down.” Logan nodded. Then, moving infinitely slow, he shifted his arms underneath Harry to gently lever him up to his chest level. Harry’s head lolled gently against Logan’s chest and Logan wasn’t surprised to see two black furred ears laid back against Harry’s head.

Logan proceeded to carry him up the steps before carefully depositing him on the gurney. Hank nodded, and Logan backed off as Hank wheeled the kid inside.

“So, how is he?” Logan jerked and glared up at the ceiling where Kitty had phased halfway through.

“He’s asleep, Kitty. Now drop down before you fall.” Storm said with a frown. The retired teacher had crossed her arms as she gave a severe look to her one-time pupil. Kitty blinked before dropping into a flip. She landed lightly on the balls of her feet.

“How long do you think he’ll sleep? Does this mean we can stop hiding everything from him?” She asked. Logan had just opened his mouth to answer when-

_Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!_

The group cast their gazes to the ceiling. Kitty huffed before jumping up to phase her hand through the ceiling. When she came down she was gripping the ankle of a somewhat disgruntled Bobby who stumbled before landing on his rear.

“Ouch!” He yelped.

“Try the stairs next time, genius.” Kitty staid with a roll of her eyes. “Anyway, how long till he’s back up and running?” There was no reason to specify who the “He” in her question was. There was only one person they had on their minds.

“Hank said that, since it wasn’t severe, he’ll probably be waking tomorrow at the latest. It depends on how much it tired him out.” Logan said. Then, unable to do anything else, he turned and headed inside. It wasn’t likely Hank would allow them into the basement until after Harry was settled, but being even a little bit closer helped. The others followed him into the front room.

“So, after this we can tell him, right?” Bobby asked as he strode forward. He held his hand behind his head in a relaxed manner and seemed as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Playing power football with him will be a blast! Wait, does he even know how to play football? I mean, he’s British, right? Does this mean I get to teach him? I-Ouch!” Bobby yelped as Kitty drove her elbow into his gut.

“Harry’s sick Bobby. He’s probably going to be feeling pretty bad for the next few days and that’s without the whole “we lied to you about everything” coming into play.”

“Yeah, I know. But I just thought that once everything was figured out, he’d be one of us. You know, for real. We wouldn’t have to hide anything from him anymore.” Bobby grinned at the irate female. Kitty rolled her eyes and gave a long drawn out sigh.

“Boys,” she muttered under her breath. Storm frowned reprovingly at the two while Logan gave them both looks of annoyance.

“Just because he’ll know we’re mutants that doesn’t mean he’ll know all about the X-men.” Logan’s voice was low and determined.

“Huh?” Bobby jerked his head around while Kitty tilted her head to the side.

“What do you mean, Logan?” Storm asked.

“Just because he’s a mutant and he knows we are, it doesn’t mean he’s going to be involved with the X-men. Personally, I’d rather he didn’t know. It’s just going to be impossible to hide it come fall when no-one shows up for fall semester.” Logan growled out in irritation. He crossed his arms and leaned on the wall moodily. “You are not to involve him in any of what happens with the X-men. I don’t want him to even be aware of what we’re doing on any given mission. Our clandestine missions will _stay_ clandestine. This isn’t like when ya’ll were still in high-school with Jean and Shades. I don’t want him sneaking on the Blackbird to go joy riding and I especially don’t want to find out that he’s snuck onto a mission. You two,” Logan gave the two young adults an unimpressed stare, “Will ensure that Harry does not have any sort of idea when the missions are, and you are certainly not to give the impression that there is anything even remotely interesting about them. This is an entirely different stage than what went down when ya’ll were still in school.”

“Don’t worry Logan. We’ll make sure Harry doesn’t get involved.” Bobby said seriously. His face was sober and for the first time in a while he actually looked serious about something. Beside him, Kitty straightened.

“Well, yeah! Of course, we’re going to keep Harry out of it! We’re not freshmen anymore, Logan. Sheesh, at least give us some credit. You did train us after all.” Kitty stated as she flipped her hair in a way that was entirely reminiscent of her younger days. Logan allowed a relieved smile to tug at the corners of his mouth.

“Sure, you are, Half-pint.” Logan chuckled. He reached out and mussed up the tops of their heads in a familiar action of fondness. He ignored the two’s exclamations of distaste as the hidden elevator’s door slid open. Hank appeared.

“He’s settled into the isolation room now. You can come down to the main room to look in.” Hank shifted awkwardly to one side of the elevator to allow room for the others. Though the elevator had been made for a large group of people, it felt stifling as they rode it down to the bottom floor. The silent tension of the elevator was as thick as soup. Thankfully, the ride was short, and the elevator’s occupants were released at the sound of a friendly ding. Logan strode out first, with Hank following behind with Storm. The younger duo meandered after them.

The first thing Logan saw when he entered the medical wing was Charles’s circular room. Beside it, were several smaller observational rooms. It was to the first of these that Logan charged to.

The room was smaller than Charles’s. It held a metal hospital bed in the center with several pale wood cabinets. Three high-quality white-noise generators were stationed around the bed. Logan knew that even if the room had been built with soundproof walls and glass, Harry still wouldn’t have been able to hear a thing.

The kid had been tucked into the white sheets and seemed to be resting peacefully. If one discounted the feverish blush and the bone white complexion, Harry looked to be dreaming.

“Harry’s vital s are stable, and he looks to be recovering well from the sensory spike. I’ve given him a slight calming drug that should dull his hearing while his body finishes recovery. Being your son, I don’t know how long it’ll stay in his system however. Thankfully, his sensitivity levels are already dropping back into the “Safe” range so he should wake up as soon as his body feels like it’s had adequate time to reboot itself.” Hank spoke from Logan’s side as he too observed the room’s young occupant.

“When will he wake?” Logan asked.

“Hard to tell. Like I said, it all depends on how fast his body reboots itself. If he’s inherited any portion of your regeneration, Harry will likely be up with an hour. If he hasn’t… Hmmm…” Hank hummed as he flicked through the pages on his clipboard. His blue eyes scanned the data quickly. “At the latest, the drug will wear off by tomorrow morning. He might sleep a little bit longer if he falls into a natural sleep, but most he will most likely wake before noon tomorrow. He may still be slightly sensitive, but Harry will likely be back in full health within a few days.” Hank assured Logan.

The broad-shouldered man relaxed slightly and gave a sigh of relief.

“No permanent damage then?”

“There appears to be none, yes. However, until Harry wakes up, I can’t be sure. Even then, it will be hard to judge if he has lost any of his heightened senses without having a previous record to measure against.” Logan gave another sigh as he nodded.

“I don’t think he’ll have lost any hearing or scenting over it. The attack wasn’t that bad in terms of duration and peak point.” Storm strode to stand on Logan’s other side. She peered into the dimly lit medical room with discerning eyes. Though her tone had been light, her face was serious and focused. 

“Storm is correct, Logan. It is likely that Harry will not have any long-lasting effects and even more likely that he won’t notice if he does. However, when he wakes up, it is probable that he will be in a rather sensitive and delicate state of mind. A big shock, like say… the fact that we are all mutants, might trigger a panic attack or a relapse. If he gets upset enough he might even have both.” Hank intoned. Logan turned left to face the Beast of Bayville.

“He’s got to be told the truth, Hank. There’s no way we could hide it, even if it would be good for him. The kid’l definitely have questions about all this,” Logan lifted his meaty arms to gesture at the underground facility and the X-men equipment scattered about.

“I’m not arguing that. However, it does need to be told to him gently. Going up and laying down the law like he’s a child in detention won’t cut it, Logan.” Though Hank’s words were rough, the tone he used was soft with an edge of worry.

“I agree. Harry doesn’t need any added stress. That’s why you shouldn’t be the one telling him.” The chilled voice of Emma Frost cut into the conversation like a knife to butter. Her heels clicked as she stepped forward. It took a moment for the mind witch’s implications to hit but when it did the results were instantaneous. Hank looked horrified and Storm grimaced as she took a step back and in front of her once-pupils.

“What?!” Logan growled. His front lip lifted in a wild snarl and he fisted his hands in anger. Murderous eyes looked to the telepath in vehement rage.

“You heard me, or is your intellect even duller than I had previously thought? Harry doesn’t need you messing him up. If you go in there, you’ll hurt him.” Frost argued viciously. Something strange lit her face and her eyes gleamed in determination.

“The hell are you saying! He’s my kid, I think I can handle him just fine.” Logan said angrily.

“Like you handled his mutation? You knew Harry was a mutant, but you didn’t do anything. You could have avoided this situation entirely!” Frost hissed venomously.

“You’re saying this is my fault?” Logan swung his arms to Harry’s medical room in a broad gesture.

“Well, you didn’t exactly prevent it, now did you?” The icy woman asked.

“What was I supposed to do? Wrap him up in bubble wrap and lock him in the bomb shelter?” Logan asked incredulously.

“No! But if he had been told that we are mutants, we could have realized he needed medication sooner!” Frost grit out angrily.

“Medication? What the hell has that got to do with any of this?” Logan questioned irritably.

“Everything! If Harry had been on the proper medication, none of this would have happened! Your negligence is the reason Harry’s on that hospital bed!” Frost accused.

“Knowing he has enhanced senses wouldn’t have stopped this because I’m not going to put my kid on medication! It dulls the senses!” Logan argued.  

“It protects him from himself! What would you have him do? Hide away from the outside world?”

“No! I’d each him how to deal with it!”

“How?! Deal with Constant pain for the rest of his life? Oh yes! I can see how great he’ll feel when you tell him that you want him to be in pain every time he goes out for groceries because you don’t like medication!” Frost snarled as she stepped closer.

“It dulls his full potential!”

“It can take away pain! You don’t care if he’s in pain!”

“No! I do care, but I want him to know how live safely! I want him to be capable of full independence!”

“You just don’t want to admit that Harry needs help that you can’t provide! You’re an unfit parent who bases everything off of your stupid pride! You don’t care about what’s best for Harry! How can you? The only thing on your mind is yourself and your mission! Harry shouldn’t even be here! We’re undertaking covert, illegal, dangerous missions! This is no place for a child! Yet you refuse to send him somewhere safer! Your stupid ego gets in the way of what Harry needs!” Frost shouted as she poked her dainty finger into Logan’s chest with each accusation.

“There is nowhere safer! He’s mutant, Frost! Where in the world can I send him that people won’t eventually find him! At least if he’s here, he’s with us!”

“If he’s with us then Harry’s in the same danger we’re in! Think, damn it! Harry’s a child! What do you think he’ll be able to do if they come for us? Harry isn’t even of age to consent to being in any sort of danger! He’s too young to know better!”

“And sending him away is better?”

“YES! At least then he can’t be connected to “the terrorist X-Men!”. If he stays here, he’ll be seen as more than just a mutant, he’ll be an infidel! Do you know what they’d do to him? They’d plug him up to machines and cut him open to see how he ticks! And if that doesn’t kill him, their prison surely will! Keeping him here is a death sentence, Logan!” Frost roared. She was about to continue her tirade when a soft sob broke her concentration. The group of older mutants turned to look back to the sound proof room, but Harry was no longer in there. Rather, the door to the room was slightly ajar and a pale face looked out. Green eyes stared at the adults while black furred ears lay very, very flat against onyx locks.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

When Harry regained consciousness it was a slow, gradual recovery of the senses. The first thing to come to his attention was the noise he could hear. Harry felt his ears twitch and flick as he listened to the sound of rushing wind. It was loud, but somehow soothing in how indistinct it was. The next thing Harry noticed was the feeling of soft, expensive fabric under his body. He twitched his fingers in order to feel the fabric under them, but frowned at the constraining sensation of his gloves. That was odd… why would he wear gloves to bed?

Harry stilled as he recalled the ill-fated shopping trip.

When they had left the clothing store, Harry had taken one step and felt as if all of his senses were screaming at him. He could recall stumbling back against the wall, but after that it got hazy. He remembered being guided out of the mall and somewhere else and could somewhat recall sitting for what felt like ages before everything stopped trying to bash his body in. Then Harry could remember someone (Professor Munroe?) telling him to get up and go home. After that it got fuzzy again and he didn’t remember anything after that. 

Harry opened his eyes slowly to see a dimly lit, white paneled ceiling above him. He frowned at the ceiling before slowly turning his head to look about.

Had he been taken to the hospital? Harry lay in a white hospital bed in what Harry assumed was an average hospital room. There were cabinets on the walls and several odd looking medical devices crammed here and there. The only things that seemed in use however, were a few small, white dome-like things. They had cords connecting them to the power outlets and holes at the top. Harry looked at them curiously for a few moments before slowly sitting up in bed. His head ached a little and his ears felt sore. When he had sat completely upright, Harry’s vision wavered about, and he almost wished to lay back down.

Instead of returning to his resting state, the boy moved to slowly swing his legs over the side of the bed. When Harry stood, he wobbled slightly before gripping the metal bed rails for support. Harry waited for a moment to make sure he was steady before letting go. The he wobbled over to the closest odd-shaped machine and bent over slightly to listen. Apparently, the white mechanisms were the things producing the wind sound.

Harry twitched his ears slightly before turning to the long row of mirrors opposite the bed. They could have almost been windows and Harry wondered if these were the same one-way mirrors used on cop shows. Then he dismissed that notion in order to look at himself.

_Wow… I didn’t think it was possible to look this pale without being dead…_

Harry grimaced at the starkly pale skin and the gleam of cold sweat that decorated his brow. His clothes were still (thankfully) unchanged, though they were wrinkly and did not smell too great. Harry’s harry was a lax, tangled mess while his ears drooped down upon his head. Harry reached a hand up to touch his left ear and grimaced at how tender it felt. When he felt around the base there was something dried and caked on there. Harry rubbed a little off and brought his hand back down to look at it. Dried particles of blood dusted his fingertips with a rusty hue. Harry frowned with worry. Had the noise gotten so bad that his ears had actually _bled?_ Then Harry stilled as a new piece of information smacked into his brain.

He wasn’t wearing his cap. Whoever had put him here had seen his ears. Somebody _knew. In America, the most anti-mutant country in the world!!!_

_OH SHITE!_

Harry let out a strangled gasp as his knees collapsed beneath him and he landed on his shins. Breath whooshed out of Harry’s lungs in a massive gust of air and he struggled to breathe any of it back in. Fear caused his body to tremble as he gripped his knees with a tight grip. Harry bent over himself as he felt his heart rate quicken to a pounding drum.  It pounded a devastating mantra into his skull with fearsome intensity. His stomach rioted and Harry thought he would be sick.

Harry struggled to breathe as he continued to drown within his own mind.

 _No._ He thought. _I can’t- I can’t do this right now!_ Harry painfully straitened his back and stilled his rapid gasping. Mentally, he counted to five before blowing out and taking a new breath. Harry held this breath slightly longer before releasing it and taking in a new gulp of air. As he worked on breathing normally, Harry worked to coral his raging thoughts. It was hard but after few moments of controlled breathing he was able to slowly bring his situation to the forefront of his mind.

Someone had seen his ears. Not good.

Someone had taken him to a hospital and had him treated for… whatever had happened at the mall.  Better, but tied intrinsically to the first “not good”.

No one had locked him up or killed him yet. Amazing considering the “not good”.

So that meant, whoever had helped him, Harry thought it was Munroe, either had positive feelings to mutants or at least tolerated them. Very good.

Harry shakily unfolded and sat upright as his breathing finally calmed and his trembling ceased. No matter what happened, freaking out now would not help. Instead, Harry slowly stood, and with some trepidation, walked to the door. Unlike the wall, the white door actually had a piece of clear plexi-glass allowing a small slot of the outside world to be seen.

 

Harry gasped as he took in the scene outside his room with wide eyes. That… was not a hospital. Harry may not have actually been in one before, but he had watched enough of Aunt Petunia’s soap operas to have a general idea. In fact, Harry didn’t know quite what to call it. It looked like a mix of an underground, concrete bunker, and one of the sci-fi scenes from one of Dudley’s television shows. The walls were smoothed portions of concrete interspersed with panels of metal or cinderblock. Various pieces of equipment hung along the walls and even more was simply littered about on steel tables and work benches. Control panels and massive computers also sparsely dotted the room. All in all, it looked like some sort of futuristic home base of command center.

However, what really grabbed Harry’s attention wasn’t the room. Rather, his focus was on the people in the room.

It appeared that he had been correct in believing that Professor Munroe had been the one to help him at the mall. She stood nervously in front of Bobby and Kitty, as though to shield them from the other occupants of the room. Professor Munroe was not very interesting in the big scheme of things, however. Instead, Harry was absolutely riveted by the blue behemoth standing awkwardly to the side. The creature was massive and appeared more ape like than human. He stood on two legs with a massive torso and a truly impressive set of blue gorilla arms hanging down below his knees. The arms and legs were highly muscles and the feet were large and obviously designed for a more natural setting than the underground base. The creature’s facial features were much more human, if tented blue. Green eyes viewed the world through wire framed glasses while a grimace nestled itself underneath hooked nose. Blue eye brows were pulled down in distaste while equally blue sideburns framed his face. Harry realized that his sideburns were actually similar to Logan’s. The blue thing wore a green shirt, a white lab coat, and a pair of old khakis.

For a moment, Harry merely took in the bulky, blue beast. It took him a little bit to look past the creature to focus on what had drawn the creature’s distaste. The sight caused Harry’s own lips to quirk into a frown.

Logan and Frost were facing each other, and were involved in what appeared to be a heated argument. Logan’s face was twisted into a ferocious snarl of rage while Frost’s features were tightened in distaste and something that reminded Harry an awful lot like Snape. Her face was wholly different of course, but there was a similar gleam of discrimination and superiority in her face. It turned her usual regal features into something ugly. Harry watched as Frost spat something at Logan. Logan’s fists clenched, and he returned fire before waving his hands at the room Harry had been woken in. Were they talking about him? Was Logan upset that Harry was a mutant?  Harry swallowed reflexively. He needed to know what they were saying. With trembling hands, Harry slowly pulled down the handle on the door and eased it open. The newly installed door was silent, but the outside world was just as loud and abrasive as Harry remembered it being. His ears twitched back at the coldness in Frost’s voice.

“Well, you didn’t exactly prevent it, now did you?” She asked. Again, her usually beautiful face looked monstrous with such negative emotions stretched across it.

“What was I supposed to do? Wrap him up in bubble wrap and lock him in the bomb shelter?” Logan asked incredulously.

“No! But if he had been told that we are mutants, we could have realized he needed medication sooner!” Frost grit out angrily.

Harry froze as he processed Frost’s words. They were mutants? Logan, Professor Munroe, Bobby, Frost, and Kitty? They were all mutants? Harry took a deep breath and leaned further into the anteroom.

“Medication? What the hell has that got to do with any of this?” Logan questioned irritably. Harry wondered the same thing. What did medicine have to do with mutants?

“Everything! If Harry had been on the proper medication, none of this would have happened! Your negligence is the reason Harry’s on that hospital bed!” Frost accused. Harry flinched at the venom in her tone. She sounded as though Logan had committed the worst sin to man. And he hadn’t, right? Its not like he could foresee the future. Only magic could do that. [1]

“Knowing he has enhanced senses wouldn’t have stopped this because I’m not going to put my kid on medication! It dulls the senses!” Logan argued.  Harry’s eyes widened in shock as he heard the way Logan referred to him. 

“It protects him from himself! What would you have him do? Hide away from the outside world?”

“No! I’d each him how to deal with it!” Harry flinched as the voices were raised higher and higher. The dull pain in his ears spiked a bit and he folded them back against his head. Then he looked back to Frost.

“How?! Deal with Constant pain for the rest of his life? Oh yes! I can see how great he’ll feel when you tell him that you want him to be in pain every time he goes out for groceries because you don’t like medication!” Frost snarled as she stepped closer. Harry frowned and bit his bottom lip. Was Frost speaking the truth about constant pain? His ears certainly hurt right now. Harry reached up to smooth over an aching ear.

“It dulls his full potential!” Logan argued back.

“It can take away pain! You don’t even care if he’s in pain!”

“No! I do care, but I want him to know how live safely! I want him to be capable of full independence!”

“You just don’t want to admit that Harry needs help that you can’t provide! You’re an unfit parent who bases everything off of your stupid pride! You don’t care about what’s best for Harry! How can you? The only thing on your mind is yourself and your mission! Harry shouldn’t even be here! We’re undertaking covert, illegal, dangerous missions! This is no place for a child! Yet you refuse to send him somewhere safer! Your stupid ego gets in the way of what Harry needs!” Frost shouted as she poked her dainty finger into Logan’s chest with each accusation. Harry’s hands started to shake as his ears began to pulse with pain. The adults were becoming more and more emotional and while Harry could appreciate the fact that they cared enough to argue over his wellbeing, it was becoming rather stressful. He could feel his heart beat slowly rising as his eyes flickered from Logan to Frost and back again.

“There is nowhere safer! He’s mutant, Frost! Where in the world can I send him, that people won’t find him! At least if he’s here, he’s with us!”

“If he’s with us, Harry’s in the same danger we’re in! Think, damn it! Harry’s a child! What do you think he’ll be able to do if they come for us? Harry isn’t even of age to consent to being in any sort of danger! He’s too young to know better!”

“And sending him away is better?”

“YES! At least then he can’t be connected to “the terrorist X-Men!”. If he stays here, he’ll be more than just a mutant, he’ll be an infidel! Do you know what they’d do to him? They’d plug him up to machines and cut him open to see how he ticks! And if that doesn’t kill him, their prison surely will! Keeping him here is a death sentence, Logan!”

Harry gasped loudly. The X-Men? Even he knew of them! Weren’t they an extremist mutant terrorist group?! He paled further when every other pair of eyes in the room turned in his direction.

* * *

 

[1] Poor naïve Harry. Mutations can do anything silly boy 


	9. Chapter 9

_Oh Shite! Shite! Shite! Shite!_

Harry felt his previous sense of panic and overwhelming fear return like the blow of an anvil. His breath got caught in his lungs and he could practically feel his heart rate speed up.

“Harry,” Professor Munroe gasped. She looked as horrified as Harry felt. He blinked and swallowed.

“You’re all mutants. You’re the X-men.” He said in a trembling voice. The adults shifted, still in shock at his appearance. Then, the blue beast stepped forward.

“That would be correct. Perhaps we could sit and talk about it?” He asked in an even toned, cultured voice. The voice was soothing on his ears and Harry felt himself relax minutely. He eyed the odd group for moment before nodding. He needed answers and these adults looked like they didn’t even know what to say to him. It was almost similar to a child being caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Still, Harry was relieved to be getting some answers. He could feel his heart rate slow in its fast-paced pumping and his lungs seemed to be able to hold air for longer. Harry was still nervous, but they wouldn’t answer his questions if they were going to hurt him or if they were planning on wiping his mind. (Harry wasn’t sure if they could actually do that, but he’d heard they could on the telly and every rumor has a shred of truth at its origin.)

“Alright then, I need to give you a checkup real quick, so let’s head into the examination room and I can answer your questions while we go along.” The blue creature stepped forward and obstructed Harry’s view of the others as he shepherded Harry back into the private medical room.   
“Oh, Ok.” Hurry murmured as he turned to go back into the room he woke in. His ears remained low to his head and the pounding in his head had not eased. His stomach still churned with anxiety, but at least he could breathe properly again.

“Now, if you would hop up onto the bed, Mr. Howlett, I will begin with my exam.” Harry flinched at being called a Howlett. His ears remained low and held close to his cranium. Though nervous, Harry gingerly climbed back upon the white hospital bed. He sat with his legs hanging freely off the bed.

“Harry, I’m going to ask you to do a few things, like let me see your ears or to stick out your tongue. While I’m doing this, feel free to ask any questions you like. I’ll answer them to the best of my ability. However, there are some things that I am not allowed to tell. So, if that happens, I’ll have to tell you no and move on to another topic.” The blue creature said calmly. He enunciated his words slowly and held an even, reassuring tone. Harry nodded and posed his first question.

“Who are you?” While there was no denying the creature’s beastliness, Harry didn’t feel right calling it a beast or creature. It reminded him too much of Professor Remus’s situation. Though burdened with an animalistic appearance, the blue creature was obviously sentient and very intelligent. The blue beast blinked before chuckling bashfully.

“Oh, sorry. We haven’t met face to face before now. I’m Hank McCoy. I serve as the resident doctor around here. If you ever catch a cold or something, feel free to come see me. Normally, I’m down here conducting physics experiments. Now, I’m going to take a look at your ears. If it hurts please tell me, though it should only tickle. I’m going to be looking for any damage or left-over symptoms of your hypersensitivity. If you feel any pain at all, please let me know.” Hank said as he picked up an odd-looking cylinder with a cone piece on the end. “This is called an otoscope. I’m just going to use it to peek inside your ear canals.” Hank’s voice was still steady and soothing as he shuffled closer. He gentle grasped Harry’s left ear and pulled it away from his head. Then he used his hands to feel about the base. Harry’s ears felt tender, like a bad bruise. Though the doctor was careful, Harry still grimaced at Hank’s touch.

“Hmmm… There’s a little bit of swelling here. I’ll check on it again later, but it should go down soon.” Hank muttered softly. Then, the blue doctor flicked on the otoscope’s light and peered into Harry’s ear. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t ticklish either. Instead, it was uncomfortable, and Harry had to fight not to reflexively draw away. Hank released a low hum as he lowered the otoscope and made a few notes on his clipboard.

“Well, it looks like there was a little bleeding earlier, but that’s dried up now. There is a significant bit of swelling but, again, that’s pretty normal. It should abate within the next forty-eight hours. I’ll check on it again in twelve hours to make sure its receding.” Harry nodded as the doctor shifted to repeat the process with his right ear. Harry decided to pose his next question.

“You guys are the X-men? Like the terrorists on the television? You are all mutants?” Harry asked. Hank hummed and pursed his lips before writing something down on his clip board. He placed the otoscope on the table attached to the hospital bed. Then, the doctor focused his full attention on Harry.

“That depends on your point of view. Yes, we are most definitely mutants, and yes, we do go around dressed in ridiculous uniforms while calling ourselves X-men. As for the terrorists… it depends on your definition.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked as he tilted his head. A terrorist was a terrorist, wasn’t it? Hank grabbed his blue stethoscope and moved behind Harry to place it on his back.

“For most people, terrorist means someone with a bomb or making threats against the government. However, the actual definition of terrorist is “a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims”. So technically, the term terrorist refers to anyone making a point to the government or ruling body using force, intimidation, or fear tactics on people. Most often, these tactics are used on people who can’t fight back, like civilians. After all, it’s a bit harder to murder a lot of people who have guns than it is to murder a lot of people who don’t. That’ why schools are such big targets. No one there can carry a weapon. Thus, when a terrorist or someone goes in with vile intent and a weapon they meet almost no opposition. And..” Hank caught Harry’s bewildered look and blushed as he moved to listen to Harry’s heart through his front.

“Er, sorry, got a little off topic there. Anyway, by definition, I suppose we are terrorists. However, we aren’t targeting civilians with any fear tactics or violence. We do use violence though. Normally, it’s on a mission, against trained MRD soldiers. So, I suppose that we do, technically, fall under the terrorist category. However, we don’t target civilians and we don’t kill. The worst anyone on this team has done is mindwipe someone, and that’s only when necessary and only memories related to an ongoing mission. We plan each mission carefully, and our mission parameters change per mission. In these terms, we’re more like a pacifistic special operations group or something. Long term, our goal is equality and peaceful relations between all humans; mutants and non-mutants. Now, can you breathe deeply and hold it for three seconds?” Hank asked as he began listening to Harry’s lungs. He hummed and moved to the left lung. Harry breathed in again, held it, and let it out in another gust of air. Hank frowned.

“Can you do that again, please Harry?” Harry nodded and breathed deeply. This time when he let it whoosh out, Hank sighed and marked something on his clipboard. Then he laid the stethoscope aside to grab a silver flashlight. “Can you open your mouth for me? I need you to open it as wide as you can and stick your tongue out.”

“So, you guys are but you aren’t terrorists?” Harry asked confusedly as he complied with the doctor. He stuck his tongue out and watched in fascination as the blue man peered into his mouth.

“Somewhat? Technically yes, ideally no. We don’t want to be seen as terrorists. The only reason we are seen as such is due to a faulty tip. We heard that a group of mutants were going to take out the senator. Despite his prejudices, Senator Kelly’s death would not be morally correct nor ideal. His death could act like a war call to others like him and they could view him as a martyr. It would also prove to the populace that mutants are dangerous nutcases as well as willing to kill. It’d set off a wild fire of anti-mutant sentiment. Luckily or unluckily, the tip was false. Though the opposing group did send off a shot, it was only bait to set us up. We went in and there was no opponent for us to fight. Just a lot of cameras recording one of the more peaceful mutant groups attacking a US senator.”  Hank moved back from Harry and marked something down on his clipboard again. Harry wondered how much of the paper he had used. The doctor seemed to be writing a lot down.

“So, you were framed then.” Harry stated. Now that the full story was coming to light, he felt a lot calmer. These guys sounded a bit like Sirius. Hank was a relaxing person to talk to and seemed to know just the right thing to say to calm Harry down. Though it was kind of funny how he’d go off on political tangents every now and then.

“Yes, we were. I’m going to check your eyesight now. Can you take off your glasses and close one eye?”

“Sure. So, what is the X-men’s actual goal then? If you aren’t taking down anti-mutant people, then what do you do?” Harry questioned as he grabbed his glasses and blinked his eyes at the fuzzy surroundings.

“Can you look at this finger for me?” Hank held up his pinkie finger and Harry focused on it. It was an indistinct blue blurb.

“Good.” Hank flipped on the flashlight and peered at Harry’s eye.

“It depends. Like I said, our missions differ from one another. Other eye.” Harry closed both eyes before opening his right eye. “Our most recent mission was in Africa. A mind controlling spirit had taken possession of Ororo. She has the ability to control storms. Okay, can you keep your head still and follow my finger with your eyes for me?” Hanks asked as he turned off his flashlight. He set it aside and held up his pinky finger again.

“So, Professor Munroe is the reason Africa was hit by that freak storm?” Hank waved his hand up.

“The spirit made her think that the village was on fire. In order to put it out she quickly summoned all the rain that she could. Because of the spirit’s influence, Ororo couldn’t see the flooding or the damage she was doing. All she saw was that her home was burning away and nothing she could do was helping.” Hank waved his hand down. Then he shoved it to the right and left.

“That sounds horrible.” Harry shivered at the scenario. Being forced to hurt your family, while thinking you were helping them, sounded sick and twisted.

“It was. Thankfully, Frost, our resident telepath, was able to push the spirit out. Afterwards, Ororo stopped the rain and explained to her people what had happened. We left after that. Ororo stayed a few more days to pack and say good bye.”

“So, she’s a new member?” Harry put his glasses back on and blinked as the world came back into focus.

“Err, no. It’s complicated.” Hank grabbed a strange cuff with cords attached to it. He wrapped it around Harry’s wrist. “This is a sphygmomanometer. It’s going to check your blood pressure for me. In a minute, it’s going to squeeze your arm a little, so don’t be alarmed.” Harry nodded as he looked at the sphygmo-whatsit in curiosity.

“Why’s it complicated?” Harry asked absentmindedly.

“Well, she was a part of the original X-men and teaching staff under Professor Charles Xavier. She had taught for at least a decade I believe. The only reason she stopped was due to a horrible explosion that occurred on campus grounds. Someone targeted the original Xavier school, a place for children to learn, with some sort of bomb or explosive weapon about a year ago. It was horrible. Many of the students were injured alongside the staff. Both of our resident telepaths, Professor Xavier and Jean Gray, went missing. No one could find them. Both of the Professor and Jean were extremely important for both the school and the X-men.” Harry continued to stare as the cuff began to tighten and exert pressure on his wrist. It wasn’t painful, but it felt really weird.

“Without the Professor, there was no one to head the school or fund it. Without Jean, her fiancé, Scott Summers left. He was the current field leader of the X-men. Coupled with the destruction of the school, the lack of leadership caused parents to withdraw their children and for us adults to… well, fall apart. We all went our separate ways once the search was give up on.” The cuff beeped, and Hank took a look at the reading. The doctor frowned and marked down something else on his sheet. Then he peeled the cuff from Harry’s arm and stored it in an overhead cabinet.

“But how are you guys here now? And with the school?” Harry asked confusedly. Hank pulled out a folded contraption from one of the cabinets. He began setting it up while Harry watched in curiosity.

“Well, that’s where your father comes in. For an entire year, we and all of our students scattered to the winds. Most of the students, if they had them, returned to their families. The other students also left and went on their way after a bit. I suppose they went back to whatever they were doing before Charles found them. We adults also went back to whatever we were doing before Xavier found us, well, if we could. I obviously can no longer teach the sciences at a public high school anymore. Scott was heartbroken when he couldn’t find Jean. I believe he became a drunkard for a full year. There were many who returned to their lives before the school, however. Ororo returned to her home in Africa and had been using her powers to water her people’s crops. Wolverine went back to wandering on his bike; going wherever the wind takes him. Bobby and Kitty returned to their respective parents and finished up their high school education. Forge… he never really had a normal. I believe he spent the year fixing up or inventing various contraptions. His life didn’t really change, just his employer and company, I suppose.” Hank finished setting up what Harry could now see was a scale as well as something to measure height.

“Now, could you come and stand on this scale. I’m going to take a look at your weight and height.” Harry hopped off the bed and shuffled over to the scale reluctantly. No one ever liked how skinny he was, and while Harry didn’t exactly like it either, he hated when people made a fuss about it. Didn’t they know he was doing the best he could? Worrying over it wasn’t going to help him gain any weight. Harry stepped onto the scale and squeezed his eyes shut. Hank took a peek at the results and gave a gusty sigh.

“This isn’t exactly news to you either, huh?”  He asked. Harry looked at him in surprise. Normally people fussed over his weight. They didn’t react like Hank was.

“I’ve seen a lot of mutant kids, Harry. And while a portion of them have good, loving parents who don’t care what their child technically is, there are a lot of parents that do. You aren’t the first kid I’ve seen who hasn’t been given enough to eat or flinches away from touch.” Hank supplied after seeing Harry’s surprised expression.

“I’m not?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Nope. Not by an unfortunate longshot. Stand straight please.” Hank pulled out an extendable piece that was labeled with different units of height. Harry tried to read it, but realized that it was written in the American measuring system.

“You see, Harry, the purpose of the original X-men team wasn’t about fighting the MRDs or pushing for mutant equality. Don’t get me wrong, we did a lot of that. But, our main goal was to be a service to the school. During the day, we taught our students control over their powers and emotions as well as normal education. On various occasions one of us might go make a speech at a debate or provide supporting evidence. At night, we wore yellow suits to draw attention as we found and brought back gifted, mutant children in need of assistance and teaching. That was the original X-men’s purpose. We looked for mutant children and invited them to our school. That is not to say we didn’t do other things as well, but our main purpose was and always will be the upbringing and protection of the next generation. That was Professor Charles’s dream. He wanted a place for mutant children to learn that was safe and good for them. Though he wished the world would be that, he created the Xavier institute and the X-men to be that in the interim.” Hank read the height from the scale and wrote it down on his board with another frown. Meanwhile, Harry was having his own little epiphany. These people were just like Hogwarts, except not so secret anymore. And kind of illegal but in a good way. Immediately, Harry felt more at ease. This place was no longer just a muggle school in his mind. It was a refuge for people!

“But what about now? How does L-Logan fit into all this? How did you guys band back together? Where’s the professor and Ms. Grey?”  Harry questioned. Hank sighed.

“The professor was discovered a week ago and brought back. Unfortunately, he remains in a coma. Jean’s whereabouts and health are still unknown, though we are keeping a look out for her. And as for how we banded back together, well… we still have only a few of our original members. Currently, our X-men consists of myself, your father, Bobby, Kitty, Summers, Ororo, and Frost. Forge is a noncombatant normally, though he occasionally goes on stealth missions where technological know-how is needed. Many of the older team have drifted away and not been found, or refuse to return on account of Logan being the leader.” Hank turned and gestured to the bed. Harry wandered over to it and yawned.

“Logan is the leader?” He questioned.

“He’s the one who decided that the X-men were still needed. Logan got into some trouble and a family took him in while he was recovering. Unfortunately, the MRD took the family into intensive questioning after that. Logan took offense, came and requested my help, and then we busted them out together. After that incident, Logan decided enough was enough. Something had to be done before the world went crazy and the X-men were the only ones around to do it. So, he decided that he would lead us in pushing for mutant equality and peace while intervening for our fellow mutants. This X-men was created to perform illegal, dangerous, and clandestine missions. Again, it’s more similar to a peace seeking black ops unit than anything else.” Harry settled once more on the bed.

“Now, do you have any allergies or medicine preferences? I’m sure you have a pretty bad head ache right now that I’d love to help relieve.” Hank asked with a lopsided smile.

“I-I don’t think so. I’ve never had an allergy attack before.”

“Good, I’ll give you some Ibuprofen for now and the pain should be gone by tomorrow evening. Now, as for the results on this checkup. Your weight, as you assumed, is not where it should be. I’ll be crafting a diet that will make it easier to gain a few pounds and prescribing a few shakes to take in between meals. I’m going to draw some blood once you’re feeling better to see if you need any specific vitamins or minerals. I’m sure Kitty will enjoy the chance to go shopping for anything you need in terms of food. Unfortunately, there does seem to be some irregularity in your lungs which I will further diagnose and treat at a later date. It is of no grave importance as of tonight. I’ll be setting up an appointment with an eye doctor for some time next week. As for your ears there is some swelling but that should abate in a few days and your hearing should be less sensitive to sudden sounds and certain pitches.” Hank looked up from his clipboard to look Harry in the eyes. His face was serious.

“Now, your ears are obviously part of your mutation, but do you have anything else I should be aware of as your physician? Remember, anything you tell me is confidential to you, Logan as your father, and myself. If you don’t wish it, it won’t spread beyond Logan or myself. And Logan knows how to keep a secret. Anything you disclose will spread no further if you don’t wish it to be known. However, that said, I do hope you don’t feel the need to hide anymore, Harry. The institute was created for mutants to feel at home. There is no safer place in America for a mutant than here. We are all mutants, Harry. No matter what, no one will look at you any differently.” Harry felt his heart beat race. His hands trembled. Slowly, not breaking eye contact, Harry reached behind himself and pulled out a sleek, oily, and ill kept tail. Black like his ears, the tail had shown up with his ears one morning with no warning. Harry had rushed to a bathroom stall, locked the door, and had a panic attack when he discovered it. Now, he trembled as he held the appendage out for Hank to see.

Hank breathed deeply and smiled at Harry in acceptance. Harry took a deep breath and dropped his tail to begin working on his gloves.

“I-I woke up one morning with this and my ears. I’ve been hiding them till now. I can also… walk through shadows? I guess? When I step in a shadow I can go to any other nearby shadow so long as it’s in a straight line. And then… And then there’s this.” Harry pulled his gloves off to reveal dried patches of blood dancing across his knuckles. Slowly, with a concentrated grimace and grit teeth, Harry clenched his palm’s muscles in just a specific way. Haltingly and impossibly painfully, two bone white claws emerged from his clenched fists. The sharp blades extended about three inches from each hand before Harry could no longer take the pain. He gave a sharp gasp and allowed the fragments to sink back within his skin. Tears grew in his eyes from the pain and he struggled to keep them from falling.

Hank’s eyebrows rose, and he quickly grabbed some cotton ball pads. He began wrapping the bloodied knuckles in gauze immediately. This went on for several minutes before Hank once more looked Harry in the eyes.

“Thank you for trusting me with this, Harry. I understand that it’s hard to trust people, but I’m glad you’re trusting in us. As for your mutation, I’ll get a better look at it when I take a look at your DNA. I’ll take an extra sample of blood when I draw it in a few days. Though, I already have my suspicions on what I’ll find. Logan has a similar mutation. You should ask him about it when you’re ready. For now, however,” Hank pulled a water bottle from a cabinet and a pill bottle from his lab coat. “Take these.” Hank held out the water bottle and dumped out two pink pills from the orange pill bottle. Harry took them and threw back the pills before taking a few swigs of water to wash them down. His ears tilted down as he gave a jaw splitting yawn. Harry’s eyes drooped and he could feel exhaustion creeping back into his thin frame. The load of information certainly didn’t make it any easier. Harry felt as if his brain was on over load to try and make sense of everything.

“I can see you’re tired, so I’ll just leave you to get some rest. I’ll be back in the morning with breakfast and another checkup for your ears. Good night, Harry.”


	10. End of Intro Arc (Finally!)

Harry woke sometime later feeling much better. Though still sore, Harry didn’t feel as if his ears and head were filled with cotton. He also felt more energized and the cloud of exhaustion that had encased him last night had evaporated. In short, Harry felt much better than he had the night before.

When Harry sat up, he sat up with confidence and was steady as he looked around the quiet medical room. It was empty, and Harry let out a breath of relief. Right now, he needed a little while to get his head straight.

Everything had been happening so quickly. After saving Sirius, it was as if Harry’s life had just turned upside down. Waking up a few days after freeing Sirius and Buckbeak with extra ears and a tail, had not been fun. He had run as fast as he could to the bathroom that morning and stayed there until even Ron had left for breakfast. After they were gone, Harry had immediately broken down and had a full-blown panic attack.

Harry had known what his ears and tail meant. It meant that he was a _freak._ Both muggle and wizard knew of and despised mutants. In the muggle world, the hate and abuse came from fear. In the wizarding world, the mutated and different blood was scorned even more than muggleborns.

In the wizarding world, it was _still legal_ to kill mutants as if they were animals. Hell, animals probably had better rights than a mutant.

And that had scared the crap out of Harry. And still did, really. If anyone ever found out that Harry was a mutant, it’d be within their legal rights to execute him on the spot. Harry wouldn’t even have to break any laws. The only thing required for his condemnation was knowledge that Harry was different.

And Merlin, that had been scary. The entire train ride back to London, Harry had been a trembling mess. Ron and Hermione had been so worried by the time the _Hogwarts Express_ had arrived. Luckily the Dursley’s had been very rushed. Harry had hardly had time to say good bye, let alone answer concerned inquiries.

The flight over hadn’t been too bad but being dropped off with people he didn’t even know had been terrifying. Finding out that one of them might be his dad was even more unbalancing. From there, Harry felt as if he had gone from one extreme of fear to the opposing side of contentment and back again within minutes.

Everything had just happened so quickly. And now he was sitting in the medical room of a peaceful terrorist organization that his biological father was leading. Somehow, Harry’s life had gone from unique and odd, to far, far beyond strange and freakish. Really, what were the odds of finding out that your biological dad was the leader of a terrorist unit? They had to be astronomically high, Harry mused sullenly.

Out of everything that could have happened over the summer, why did _this_ have to? Didn’t he already have a crappy enough life? Harry already had a bodiless spirit and half of the pureblood families out for his blood based on something he couldn’t even remember! Why in the world, would the fates decide to mess with Harry any more than they already had? Harry felt as if his life could have been one of Aunt Petunia’s soap operas for goodness sakes!

Yet, here he was, in a medical room, in a terrorist organization that claimed peaceful intentions, that his father just happened to run. Talk about crazy.

Harry let out a long sigh and scrubbed at his head with his bandaged hands as he tried to make sense of everything. It felt as though he had entered an entirely different world. Whereas before, Harry had been in the “Wizarding World” or the “Dursley Summer World”, Harry now felt as though he had entered a “Mutant World”. Each world held different values and rules and ways to be. At Hogwarts, Harry was the Gryffindor Golden Boy and had to be brave and goof off a lot. At the Dursley’s, he was quiet and meek while he obeyed any order given. And here… Harry didn’t know the rules for here yet.

‘Here’, it was okay to be different. It was okay to be a mutant. In fact, it almost appeared to be a prerequisite. Harry smirked in amusement before growing serious again. Still… just because he was accepted for what he was physically it didn’t mean they would accept his magic or that it wasn’t dangerous here.

Harry didn’t know how these people would take magic. After all, it wasn’t something that could be easily defined by science like a mutation. Magic was something completely new and outside of their control. Generally, people feared things that were new or outside of their control. If Harry told them about his magic, they might fear it. If they feared it… they could become like the Dursleys.

Harry grimaced and curled up. He liked these people. The thought that they could become anything like the Dursleys wasn’t something he liked. Harry liked Professor Munroe. He thought Bobby and Kitty were cool to hang out with. Forge seemed like a decent guy. Even Frost seemed okay.

While Harry wasn’t too sure about the ‘X-men’ part of their lives, he was sure that such kind people wouldn’t harm an innocent being if they could help it.

And Logan… Harry didn’t really get Logan. What Logan had been saying had been odd to Harry, but the man seemed genuine in his care of Harry. If Logan grew to hate him… Harry didn’t think he could bear it.

So, he would just keep his magic a secret. It would be difficult, but Harry was sure he could do it. Harry wasn’t allowed to use magic during the summer anyway. So long as all magical homework was done out of sight, Harry would probably be able to keep his magic a secret from the people here.

As for the amount of danger here…

Harry breathed in a big breath of air before letting it whoosh out. It seemed that where ever he went, there would always be some form of danger. At the Dursley’s it was the Dursleys. At Hogwarts it seemed to be open season for anyone who supported Voldemort, was actually Voldemort (Past or Present), or took up the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.

But here, at the Xavier Institute, the danger wasn’t directed at Harry.

Certainly, Harry was in danger should the MRDs come crashing in. However, Harry wasn’t the target and wasn’t in any sort of immediate danger. This place had to potential to be relatively stress free. Sure, there would always be the threat of discovery. But, it wouldn’t be Harry doing any of the risky stuff. From what he had gathered, none of the adults wanted him in any way involved. The closest he would probably get would be if his chores included cleaning their equipment.

Beyond that, Harry didn’t see himself being included in any way, form, or fashion. Most of the summer spent with the X-men would probably be used to relax and recuperate from the school year. And in reality, it wasn’t any more dangerous than staying with the Dursley’s. When Harry was at Number Four, Death Eaters could still appear at any moment. The only difference between danger levels was the target, and the hatred endured in the interim. So really, Harry was probably safer in America.

Probably.

Either way, Harry didn’t really feel like doing anything differently. The people here were nice and if he wanted to risk his neck with them, that was his problem. It was his life. If he wanted to risk it, Harry didn’t see how that was anyone else’s business.

Harry let his shoulders slump as he made his decision. For a moment, he lay still under the white sheets. Then, in a rush of boredom, Harry rose from the bed and looked around the room. The white noise generators were still running, and the soothing sounds reminded Harry of flying with Buckbeak. The lights were dimmed enough to provide easy slumber, but not enough to impair navigation of the room. Quietly, Harry padded to the door. He hesitated. Though Hank hadn’t said specifically to stay in the room, it had been implied. Still…

Harry let out a gusty sigh before he opened the door. If they wanted to keep him somewhere they should tell him so. Looking about, Harry was once more intrigued by the science and technology that surrounded him.

He had never been allowed around anything too technological at the Dursleys. Now, Harry was in awe at the ingenuity and prowess of the muggle mind. Surely, the average muggle had to be smarter than the average magical. They had to be, in order to invent and create such amazing things without the use of magic.

Turning in a circle, Harry allowed himself to take in the full extent of technology in the underground base. It really was amazing. Of course, it would be more amazing if the grease and oil didn’t stink so much. Gross! 

Harry continued to look around in curiosity until he noticed another occupied hospital room. This one was circular and very clean. Harry could see that it was similarly lit with dim light to allow easy rest and maneuverability. The walls surrounding the room held large windows to allow viewing. Harry padded over quietly and looked in. His silky tail waved curiously behind him.

The room contained a single patient sleeping in a white bed. The man was bald and slightly aged, though Harry didn’t think he was actually as old as his sleeping form made him out to be. Various contraptions and pieces of medical equipment surrounded him or monitored the man.

The bald man lay still under the covers. Harry watched for a few moments but grew slightly concerned that the man hadn’t so much as twitched. Normally people moved around in their sleep. Most of the time, it was just some finger twitches or a little mild shifting, but everyone moved a little in their sleep. Harry knew this after living in a dorm with a bunch of fellow teenage boys. Even Neville moved a little in his sleep, and he was the quietest of all.

That this man didn’t so much as twitch, was very concerning to Harry. Luckily, Harry could still see the rise and fall of the man’s chest. Since the man was still breathing, he couldn’t be dead.

**“Hello?”**

Harry jumped as a faint voice echoed around the otherwise silent underground base. The voice echoed a little with an ethereal quality and Harry was unpleasantly reminded of the ghosts from Hogwarts. He hoped the Xavier Institute wasn’t haunted…

 **“Who is there?”** The voice called again. This time it was a little stronger and Harry looked around nervously. Slowly, he began to back away from the occupied medical room. His ears folded back against his head and his heart began to pound inside his chest. Harry wrapped his tail around himself in an effort to remain calm. His eyes skittered about the underground facility and his breathing became shallow.

**_“I know you’re there. Who are you?”_ **

The voice wasn’t any stronger this time, but it definitely sounded closer. Harry took in a panicked breath.

“Hey, brat! What are you doing outside your room?” Harry let out a loud yelp and spun around. He put his hands out in front of himself in a defense position and stumbled back a few paces. His back brushed the window.

“Woah, take it easy kid. It’s just me.” Logan said. The man was dressed in casual clothes and carrying what appeared to be two take out boxes from a local diner. “What’s wrong? Did something spook ya?” His easy-going demeanor shifted to a more alert countenance. Logan’s eyes gave the room a quick scan before zeroing in on Harry. Logan frowned and took another step forward before giving an audible sniff. Harry took a moment to observe the transition before answering.

“I thought I heard someone. It was probably just my imagination.” Harry tried to act casual about it and rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner. Even if there was a ghost, Logan likely wouldn’t be able to see or hear it. However, something Harry said must have meant something to Logan. The man immediately deepened his frown but relaxed his stance. His eyes shifted to the room behind Harry.

“That’s fine then. The corridors down here are a little drafty. To be safe though, come get someone the next time ya think ya hear someone.” Logan looked back into Harry’s face before gesturing to Harry’s medical room. “Come on, we need to talk, and I brought food.” Harry’s lips turned up as the delicious smelling scents wafted over to his nose.

“Okay.” He murmured as he followed Logan back into the medical room. Harry sat on the messy bed while Logan dropped the take out onto the rolling bed side table.

“I wasn’t sure what to get you, but I figured every kid likes pancakes, so.” Logan awkwardly moved one Styrofoam box to Harry’s side of the table. Harry blinked at the item while Logan pulled up a stool from under a counter.

“Thank you.” Harry murmured while he opened the box. Pancakes weren’t his first choice, but Harry wasn’t going to make a fuss based on the heaviness of a meal. During the summer, he was normally lucky to get _any_ food. Pancakes were practically a king’s banquet compared to the usual summer fare. Logan shot him a grin as he opened his own Styrofoam container. Harry was slightly amused to see that Logan was also eating pancakes. He had about a dozen more though…

“So… got any questions?” Logan asked. Harry blinked at the abrupt conversation starter but couldn’t help but be relieved. Logan wasn’t going to dance around his questions or tell him lies.

“What are your plans concerning me?” Harry asked. He’d been told over and over again that he would be staying at the institute and attending school come fall. However, that didn’t tell him anything about Logan’s personal plans at all. It was easy to provide for someone’s physical needs and education. If the Dursleys had done it, Harry was sure anyone could do it. However, it was much harder to parent and care for some one. What was Logan going to provide? Was he going to see to Harry’s physical needs and call it even? Or was he interested in an actual parental relationship between father and son?

Logan heaved a great sigh.

“You picked a tough one to start out on, kid. This one’s not gonna be easy.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not going anywhere.” Harry replied.

“Well… first off, you came as a surprise. I wasn’t expecting anything like… this to happen, so I’m not exactly equipped to handle this sort of thing. Hell, I still don’t know what I plan doin’ about ya.” Logan looked away awkwardly and cleared his throat nervously before looking back at Harry. With an increasingly nervous expression the man continued. “But, while I may not know exactly what I’ll do, I do know how I feel. Harry, you’re my family. No matter what, you’re my family and I… don’t really have anyone else that fits into that category. Don’t get me wrong, this whole thing is still awkward as hell. However, just because its awkward and a little weird, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t true. We are family. And that means we look out for one another. Family is supposed to be there no matter what, and that’s what I intend on doing. Harry, you were a surprise. Still are one, if Ah’m honest. But just cus you’re a surprise, is no excuse for me to not do right by ya. You are my family, Harry. It doesn’t matter if you never call me ‘dad’ or even see me as more than an odd uncle. I’ll always be there for ya.”  Harry stared at Logan in surprise. By the end of it, his eyes had watered a little and he was surprised by the strong emotions that rose from his heart. Harry looked down at his bandaged hands and sat quietly for a few moments.

“Do you really mean that?” He asked softly.

“Yeah, I do. You are my son. If anything is worth trying for, it should be family.”

“Okay.” Harry said as he looked into Logan’s face. “If-If you’re going to try to make this… thing work, I’ll try too.”

“Nice to hear, kid. Any other questions?” Logan’s voice and phrasing remained rough, but Harry thought he could hear the slightest touch of warmth in his tone.

“What about the school? Do you still run it while you’re doing X-men stuff? Or do you only do X-men stuff in the summer?” Harry asked skeptically.

“The school’s just our cover. We’ve got all the papers for professors and students, but we don’t actually have any other real people here. It’s just a cover story so no one gets suspicious. We couldn’t tell you earlier because we didn’t know how you would react or even if you would need to know. The original plan was to set you up with either an acquaintance at a safe house or to ensure you get a good foster family.”

“The original plan? Why did it change?” Harry asked. Normally people didn’t explain what they were planning to do with him before they did it.

“We didn’t know you had an X-gene. Now that we know you have it, you’ll need special training. The best place for that is here. Storm’s trained a lot of mutant kids, and Hank’s no slouch either. If Jean was here, she and Summers would probably help you get your mutation under control quick. Either way, most of these guys used to make a living off of teaching mutant kids how to function. You’ll be fine here.”  

Horror rose in Harry’s gut as he imagined that scenario. Spending a summer away from his friends was one thing, but Harry didn’t think he’d manage any longer than that. Not to mention, a diploma from a school of magic was kind of required for an adult magical to practice magic out of a wizarding home. And if he didn’t attend Hogwarts, when would Harry find the time to practice magic? Harry loved magic. He couldn’t imagine going years without a single drop of magic.

“B-But what about my boarding school in the fall?” Harry questioned.

“We’ll send them a letter to make sure they know you won’t be attending this year.”

 “I’m not quitting Hogwarts.” Harry frowned determinedly and refused to look away as Logan looked him in the eyes.

“The schools around here-”

“Are going to be suspicious if you only have one student attending. You guys need to keep a low profile, right?” Harry interrupted.

“Harry. It’s going to be safer for you here. Britain will throw you in prison if they find out about your ears or tail. At a boarding school, you’re surrounded by your peers 24-7. At least here you’ve got a support system if something does happen. Hell, Frost could probably mindwipe a few hundred people if she had to.” Logan spoke with confidence and his eyes practically glowed with authority. Nonetheless, Harry would not back down over this. Hogwarts was magic. Harry was not going to lose magic.

“So?”  Harry asked. “I like my school. My mom went there. My friends go there now. I love it there. It holds a lot of really amazing memories. Not to mention, it’s going to look really suspicious if I drop out. My parents- er, Mum and J-James already paid my education fees in full when I was born. I’ve literally been meant to graduate from there since I was born. I know that it’s dangerous, but is it any more dangerous than here? Sure, Professor Frost can uh… mindwipe people, but I could still be discovered and taken away. The only difference is that one option looks significantly less suspicious than the other.” Harry argued. Heat began to gather in his heart as he spoke. Harry’s ears lowered into a defensive position while the hair on his tail poofed out instinctively.

“The difference is the amount of people who can help when you get into trouble. When you go to your fancy boarding school, we won’t be able to help ya. If something happens it will take us at least a few hours to get over there and that’s if we hear about it all. If you attend locally, there will always be someone nearby to help you out.”

“So, what? I’m just supposed to cower to you for safety! I’m not a child who needs to hide behind their parent!” Harry snarled angrily. Yes, he wanted a family. But Logan had no right to tell him how to live his life. “It’s my life! I’ve always made my own decisions and been just fine by them. You don’t have the right to tell me I can’t go. If I want to risk it over seeing my best friends, that’s my choice.” For a moment, a very angry expression crossed Logan’s face. Then, the big man took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and was still for a moment. The moment passed, and he let out a breath of air.

“We’ll discuss this later. It’s an entire summer away. There’s no use arguing about it now.”

Harry heaved a sigh but allowed Logan to lead him away from the heated topic. Logan was right after all. School was a whole summer away.

Harry had a full summer with the world’s most controversial mutant group to prove that he could take care of himself.

 

* * *

 

**SO! The introduction is officially posted and we've seen Harry place a small modicum of trust with his new fam. Any guesses as to who the voice was? HINT, HINT, it wasn't me.**

**Wattpad has more chapters btw.**

**Any questions or comments? Please leave a review and I'll get back to you as quick as I can.**

**~Blitza**

 

 

 


	11. To cook... or please don't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobby can't cook.

Harry flicked his cat ears in agitation. It had been a few days since the ‘Mall Incident’ and Harry had been allowed to go back to his own room. Doctor Hank had checked his ears, remarked on how well that swelling had dissipated, and given him the freedom pass. However, Harry was no longer allowed to hide his ears with a beanie anymore. Apparently, it put too much weight on them.

Harry lashed his tail in uncharacteristic anger. He had liked wearing hats. So, what if they hurt? They were his bloody ears, so he should decide what gets done with them! Harry grumbled to himself as he continued down the stairs; one hand on the bannister out of habit. At Hogwarts you never knew when the stairs would decide they liked the windows on a different floor better.

Last night had been the first night Harry was allowed to sleep outside of the medical room. It had been a relief. The guest bedroom Harry had been given use of wasn’t exactly his or anything, but it gave a whole lot more privacy than the windowed medical room. Now, it was morning, and Harry’s stomach was declaring its desire for substance. Plus, he had been told to finish the last of his medication and he had to eat in order to take the last two yellow pills.

Harry walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of Kitty and Bobby. The two young adults appeared to be in the midst of chasing each other around with a bowl of batter.

“Bobby! Don’t you dare!” Kitty threatened as the blonde finally cornered her. Bobby grinned deviously.

“Aw, come on, Kitty. You smeared some on my shirt, now I can return the favor!” The boy retorted. Harry glanced at Bobby’s shirt and saw that there was indeed a small group of batter-made stains. Kitty probably deserved what she was about to get… however…

“If you two keep this up you’ll never bake any biscuits.” Harry grabbed the bowl of batter from the blond X-man and moved to the counter. Then he began to mix the batter thoroughly. There were still a few chunks left that needed to be mixed in.

“Harry! You’re out of the med bay!” Kitty announced joyfully. “Nice ears, by the way. Do they feel better?” Harry nodded but didn’t speak. He didn’t really feel comfortable talking about them yet. Though, come to think about it, weren’t Kitty and Bobby also mutants if they were staying here? Harry gave them a subtle glance. They didn’t look very different. Both young adults looked just like what Harry would expect out of any American young adult. Harry sighed before pouring the batter into the biscuit pan. He checked the oven and frowned.

“Why do you have the oven set at five hundred degrees?” Harry asked.

“To cook it!” Bobby exclaimed. Harry looked at him. The guy actually seemed entirely sincere.

“If you ever want to burn down someone’s home or poison them to death; that’s how to do it.” Harry stated flatly as he pulled the temperature down to three-fifty on the dials.

“Wait, really?” Bobby asked in surprise and a disturbing amount of interest.

“Don’t! Bobby! Just don’t.” Kitty pre-emptively chastised her fellow X-man.

“Oh, come on! You know it’d be great! Imagine, showing up to the Brotherhood with a batch full of cookies, next thing you know, they’re in the hospital! I bet they can’t cause much trouble while barfing up their insides.” Bobby argued.

“Poisoning people is illegal. And besides, the day they would take and eat food we gave, is the day they start kissing up to the government. Not. Going. To. Happen. Ever.” Bobby sighed and grumbled unhappily.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Still, it’s a nice thought.” He said with a shrug. Kitty snorted uncharacteristically and smirked.

“Trust me. I happen to like it, too. Its just unrealistic.”  

“Who’re the Brotherhood? Why do you want to poison them?” Harry asked. The two young adults blinked and turned to them in surprise. Harry had been so quiet, they had forgotten he was there. The boy was still standing next to the oven as he waited for the temp to drop a few hundred degrees.

“Er…” Bobby stuttered. He shot a panicked glance at Kitty. They weren’t supposed to talk about X-men stuff in front of Harry. Logan didn’t want Harry to know anything that went on in their clandestine missions. Though… the Brotherhood was kind of common knowledge…

“They’re a group of mutant terrorists. A lot of our X-men activities cause us to get into skirmishes with them.” Kitty jumped in. Though her voice tightened slightly at the topic, Kitty was careful to keep her face neutral. She didn’t want Harry to see these guys in public and go after them. Rather, she wanted him to ignore them or run away. Hopefully, her monotone features would give him the impression that the Brotherhood were neither interesting enough to approach out of curiosity, nor were they bad enough to warrant his action. As Wolverine’s kid, Kitty didn’t doubt Harry had some serious protective tendencies for those he cared about (Logan’s were a mile wide and definitely there if you looked deep enough). She didn’t want him sniffing around the Brotherhood because he’d finally felt safe enough in a habitat to form attachments to those around him.

“So, they’re enemies?”

“Sort of. They’re fellow mutants so we don’t normally go out of our way to challenge them; we just intervene against them when they’re pulling something harmful. Like pulling a hit on the senator.” Kitty explained. Then she turned and gave Harry a million-dollar stare. “Harry, if you see them, run away. They probably won’t hurt you, but they’re not people you really want to hang around. Besides, the MRD are always close at hand when they’re involved. I don’t want you getting taken just because you happened to be in their vicinity when they pull something stupid.”  Harry nodded slowly. His eyebrows pinched together, and he seemed deep in thought.

“They won’t attack here, will they? At the school?” Harry asked. Kitty shared and uncomfortable look with Bobby. An attack on the school was actually almost to be expected. It had happened once before, and while they didn’t know why someone had targeted Charles Xavier, he could have easily been targeted for X-men related reasons. Now that they had started appearing as the X-men again, those same people could come back for round two. Or someone entirely new could track the X-men down. In truth, their position was very dangerous. It had been one of the reasons Logan had wanted Harry to be moved to a safe house elsewhere. The risk of attack at the X-mansion wasn’t a risk. It was a surety at some point.

“They might. But we’ve got a lot of high-tech defense systems from Warren. And even if they got past the defenses, Logan wouldn’t let them touch you.” Bobby was quick to reassure.

Harry opened his mouth to ask another question when the oven went off. It seemed it had finally cooled to three-fifty.

Harry scooted the biscuit pan in and left the subject at what it was. It wasn’t a sure thing, and he still wasn’t sure if he’d be staying too long. By now, Hedwig had to have found Sirius.

Harry wondered if Sirius knew about Logan.


	12. Discussion over good food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank cooks and Harry finally gets some answers.

“Wow… you’ve really never used a computer before?” Kitty asked Harry. The two were standing before one of the computer terminals in the computer lab. Because Harry was obviously not going back to the mall for some more clothes, it had been decided that he would do some online shopping with Kitty.

“Um…” Harry mumbled nervously. His ears folded back neatly against his head as he tried not to fidget too much under Kitty’s shocked gaze. “The D-Dursleys didn’t want me to touch any of Dudley’s things, they thought I might break them.” Harry didn’t like saying so much about the Dursleys, but Kitty’s eyes wouldn’t leave him be without an answer. Of course, even though he tried to say as little as possible, Harry was well aware of just how much he was saying by _not saying._ If one cared to read between the lines they would find a plethora of hidden knowledge.

“Ah, well surely you must have had some time on a computer at school.” Kitty ventured hopefully. Harry looked away. Though he would never regret going to Hogwarts, he was now at a disadvantage in the muggle world as far as technology went. Looking at the blank, shiny box thing in front of him, Harry felt a bit of shame creep in. He’d laughed at Malfoy in first year for the blonde’s highly erroneous descriptions of helicopters, yet now he couldn’t even figure how to power on a monitor? Certainly, he knew how automatic doors worked and the purpose of a rubber ducky, but the workings of a desktop were beyond him. He’d never been allowed near Dudley’s and his primary school didn’t use online learning methods.

“No… my boarding school is up in the mountains of Scotland. It doesn’t even have electricity.” Harry answered down heartedly.

“Oh, well, I guess we can add a computer and typing course to your extracurricular activities. For now, I’ll show you the basics.” Kitty murmured as she pulled over an extra rolling chair from one of the other computer cubbies. The brown-haired girl sat herself down on the chair directly in front of the desktop and gestured for Harry to take the other one.

“Ok, so the first thing you should know about computers is how to turn them on. With a laptop, there’s only one button. With a desktop you have to turn on both the monitor and the actual computer.” Kitty explained as she pressed a button on both the computer monitor and then on the black box sitting beneath the table. Harry blinked at several different colored lights lit up. A second later, the dark screen of the monitor lit to expose a wavering flag of four different colors. Windows 8.

After a moment, the screen turned bright, sky blue with two different boxes in the center. One held a flower and was labeled ‘Staff’, while the other held a pencil and was labeled ‘Students’. Harry snorted. So, the teachers got a flower, but the students just got a reminder of their impeding doom.

“Something funny?” Kitty asked curiously. Harry blushed and shrugged.

“Not really. I mean, it was to me but its honestly not.”

“Huh, well anyway, since you’re a student you’ll be using the student interface.” Kitty used the mouse to roll a white arrow across the screen to the picture of the pencil. One left click later and Harry blinked to find an entirely different image on the computer screen.

“Once you log into the student profile, you’ll come to this right here.” Kitty scrolled the pointer around the screen. She moved it down to the blue bar at the bottom.

“This is your tool bar. When you’re using something on the computer, you’ll always be able to find it here.” Kitty moved the arrow up to the different boxes in the upper left corner.

“These are programs and apps that the computer can use. This one,” She scrolled over a blue ball with an orange fox. “Is Mozilla Firefox. This is the one we use to access the internet. This one,” This tie she gestured to a blue book, “Is Office Word. Here you can write papers, essays, school work, or even just write for fun. Those two are probably the most important ones for you to know. You might have to use some of the others later, but most of the others are things you don’t really need to mess with, like the Recycle Bin or McAffee.” Kitty briefly used the mouse to point out the garbage can and red badge.

“So… different shaped things let you do different things?” Harry asked tentatively.

“Yup, and this one,” Kitty clicked on the ‘Mozilla Firefox’, “Will let us get you some new clothes.”

“It’ll make my clothes?” Harry asked in confusion. Kitty stared at him incredulously before snickering with mirth.

“Wha? Oh No!” Kitty giggled and laughed. “Its going to let us order your clothes, like through a magazine except without paper.”

“Oh!” Harry exclaimed. _Like owl order then… just with a glowing box._

“Since you left all your clothes at the mall, we’ll need to get you some more formal wear as well as some good casual outfits. You don’t need any underwear, right? Cuz you’re gonna have to get Bobby to help you with that.” Kitty murmured as the web browser opened to reveal a picture of the X-Mansion. Across the top of the page their cover school’s name is printed in bold golden letters. Kitty ignored it. They only had a website to keep up appearances. Instead, Kitty quickly began to type into the search.

Meanwhile, Harry blushed bright red. Certainly, it wasn’t exactly a secret that everyone wore underwear, but to have a girl ask him if he needed some so bluntly was mortifying. Luckily, Kitty continued without noticing Harry’s prominent flush.

“This is a search bar. If you have a question or you’re trying to find information, you type what you want into here.” Kitty explained. She typed in ‘Formal preteen boy clothes’. Harry winced. He knew he was small but surely, he wasn’t that small? He was almost fourteen for Merlin’s sake! He was definitely a teenager, not a preteen.

Harry blinked when a list of pictures and titles popped up. Those… actually weren’t too bad. The kids in the pictures actually were about his height. 

“So, see anything you like, kiddo?” Kitty asked.

“I like that one.” Harry pointed to a long-sleeved button up in a silvery blue. Kitty right-clicked it and then clicked ‘open page in new tab’. A second after, another gray box popped up at the top of the screen. It was titled ‘Mountain Blue Preteen Formal Top’.

“Nice. If you get some dark jeans, it’ll work as a great contrast. Why don’t you find something in a darker color? You need something more subdued for events like awards ceremonies or something else that’s totally formal.” Kitty prodded Harry with her muscled shoulder. Harry nodded and looked through a few more of the pictures. He liked blue, but he didn’t want to be stuck wearing just blue…

“I want that one.” Harry exclaimed as he pointed to a red/maroon button up that happened to be the exact same shade of red as Gryffindor’s main color.

“Ooh, that’s going to go great with your hair. Good choice! Now, I’ll get you a couple of white too; it matches everything. Oh, What’s your size?” Kitty asked as she clicked on a white button up with blue buttons.

“Um…”  Harry flushed. He didn’t know his own size. In the Wizarding World, all of his clothes had been made for him at Madam Malkin’s. And with the Dursleys… they had never bought clothes for him.

“You don’t know?” Kitty looked over at Harry’s red tinged face. “That’s fine. Honestly, most boys your age don’t know a thing about fashion, so you’re leagues ahead of them anyway. Though… you look like you’d need a medium or large in kids… I’ll order some of both.” Kitty decided with a nod.

Kitty rolled her pointer back up to the search bar and began typing again.

‘Preteen boys T-shirts’.

Again, a list of titles and corresponding images popped onto the desktop screen. This time, Harry needed no encouragement to start looking for something he liked. The sooner he picked something the sooner he could get finished.

Eventually, Harry settled on few nondescript T-shirts with different super heroes on them alongside a couple with famous quotes on them.

Jeans went almost entirely the same way. He picked a couple shades and cuts that he liked, Kitty guessed his size, and then he was shooed from the room, so she could ‘give you a little extra oomph, don’t worry, you’ll love it!’.  A shiver of foreboding crawled its way up his spine. Hopefully, she wouldn’t go too over board.

Looking around, Harry eyed the empty corridors of the school with dislike. Now that he had ordered some clothes, he had nothing to do.

“Oh, Harry. Just the young man I was looking for. Would you mind coming with me for a few minutes? I’d like to discuss some ideas on how to allow you to be in large crowds but without having a sensory spike.” Harry blinked and looked to the left just in time to see a blank wall slide back up over a hidden elevator. In front of it, Hank McCoy stood in all is furry, blue, oddness. Harry grinned.

“Sure!” He chirped. Anything was better than wandering around aimlessly. Plus, dealing with his hearing meant he’d get to go outside and not be cooped up inside the school all day.

“Lets head to the kitchen; its about lunch time and I’m sure you’re famished.” Harry nodded and followed Hank’s lumbering gait down the hall.

“So, first I’d like to ask you a few questions about your mutation. Is that okay?” Hank asked as he pulled a chair out at the bar for Harry to sit.

“It’s okay.” Harry murmured as he gingerly sat on the offered seat. He looked at the stove and appliances on the other side of the bar. Who was going to cook? Was Hank going to?

“Great, do you like grilled cheese sandwiches?” Hank asked as he pulled a skillet out of the over head cabinet.

“Uh- yeah. I do.” Sometimes it was served at Saturday lunch with some tomato soup. Harry could remember the last time; Ron had stuffed too much in his mouth at once and ended up spraying Hermione with cheese when he inevitably choked. Hank pulled a loaf of bread from a multi-tiered platter on the bar.

“Good, that’s actually pretty much all I can cook on a stove. Logan says I treat cooking a bit too much like a chemistry experiment.” Hank grinned at Harry before pulling some cheese and butter out of the fridge. Hank fire up the gas stove and placed a bit of butter in it to melt.

“Harry, how long have you had your mutation?”

“Y-you mean my ears? Not long. I w-woke up with them the Wednesday before school let out. So, about a week and a half now?” Harry guessed. He honestly hadn’t really been keeping up with the days. The Hogwarts Express felt like a life time ago with all that had happened since stepping off the train.

“Not long at all then. Have you noticed anything odd or painful about them since then? What about at the airport?” The sound of sizzling filled the air as Hank carefully placed a cheese sandwich on the skillet.

“Um, I’m not sure. Flying next to a snoring old man gave me a headache, so I’m not sure if they were causing me any pain then or if it was just from lack of sleep on the long flight. I’ve noticed that I’m sensitive to sharp, loud sounds though and I can’t stand getting water in them. When I’ve showered, I’ve been careful to put them under some plastic to protect them.” Harry’s mouth watered a little as he picked up the scent of buttery bread and melty cheese. His green eyes focused on the stove in hunger.

“I see… so you haven’t been bothered by the sound of electricity in appliances or the signals given off by cell phones or other internet accessing devices?”

“I haven’t noticed anything like that.” Harry murmured distractively. The grilled cheese sandwich smelled sooooo gooood…

“That’s good. You probably won’t need medication then.”

“Medication?” Harry tilted his head to the side and felt his ears flop with it. His green eyes gazed warily at Hank’s back.

“Sometimes, when mutants with significantly higher senses come into contact with electronics, they can pick up the wavelengths used by mobile devices or hear the electricity running through the machines. In most of these cases, the mutant in question is unable to filter out the sounds and is thus in pain for the duration of their contact with such devices. Some allergy and pain medications have been used to allow these hypersensitive mutants to co-exist with modern technology. Luckily, it doesn’t appear as though your senses are that sharp. The most you might need is a pair of ear plugs and a little training.”

“Wow, mutants can hear radio waves?” Harry asked curiously. That sounded so weird! Did that mean they didn’t need a radio to listen to music? Harry gazed into space as he imagined what that must be like. Meanwhile, Hank chuckled amusedly.

“Some can hear more than that. Eat up.” Hank placed a plate full of grilled cheese on the counter in front of Harry. Harry grinned and quickly lifted it to his face. Just before taking a bite however, his eyes widened, and he turned back towards Hank.

“Thank you for the sandwich.” Harry said quickly. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful. It had been very nice of Hank to fix him food. None of the adults in Harry’s life had ever done that before except Mrs. Weasley. Hank smiled.

“You’re very welcome, Harry.” Hank said as he placed his own plate of grilled cheese next to Harry’s. Harry smiled as he bit into his grilled cheese. Taste and warmth exploded onto his taste buds like fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Harry let out a happy hum as he closed his eyes.

“Well, I think that’s the highest praise my cooking has ever received. Your father normally calls it radioactive leakage.” Harry blushed bright red as his eyes shot back open. Swallowing, Harry turned to his doctor and lunch buddy.

“It is really good. And I’m really hungry.” Harry defended himself. “So, you said something about ear plugs and training?” Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yes. I’ll be ordering you a pair of special null-sound ear buds from a discreet mutant medicinal facility. They’ll function like normal ear buds but with the added ability to filter outside noise and adjust it to whatever noise level you set it at. Of course, these aren’t for full time use. You can’t exactly go through life looking like you’re ignoring the world around you. They’re mostly for emergencies or when you realize you’re having issues with your senses.”

“But if I can’t use them all the time, how are they going to fix me?” Harry asked in confusion. His black tail twitched nervously before curling slightly in on itself.

“They’re not supposed to ‘fix’ you, Harry. There’s nothing to fix.”

“But the other day, at the mall… I felt like I was going to die or something. I was in so much pain and I didn’t know what to do to make it go away. How can there be nothing wrong with me when I freak out like that?” Harry’s tail curled around his middle while his ears laid flat against his head. Harry never wanted to experience what happened at the mall ever again. That sense of helplessness when your own senses betray you… it had been the worst thing Harry had ever felt. Even the basilisk venom hadn’t been as terrifying as the sensory overload at the mall.

“Again, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just not used to your new senses.” Hank tried to assure Harry. Harry shook his head back and forth as he recalled the half-conversation he had overheard.

“But Frost said-” Harry tried to argue as fear clouded his mind. They couldn’t leave him like this! He didn’t want to be in pain every time he was around a lot of people.

“I know what Miss Frost said, Harry. Now, I want you to listen to what I’m saying. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not used to receiving so much audial and scent related input. Your body hasn’t figured out how to tune them out yet. As for how I know it can do that… well. Have you ever smelled something disgusting but after a few minutes it went away?” Hank interrupted him calmly as he caught Harry’s gaze and held it. The beast’s blue eyes were calm and unworried; his brow relaxed without tension or stress. It was Hank’s calm, measured tone that broke through Harry’s rising panic.

Harry thought about what the doctor said and nodded slowly. Whenever aunt Petunia made him clean up after Dudley with bleach he stopped noticing the smell after a few moments.

“Eventually, you’ll be able to do that with other things. Your body just doesn’t know how yet. So, for now, you’ll received the earbuds as a supplement and you’ll be receiving some training in meditational mind over matter techniques.” Hank assured Harry.

“So, after a while everything will go back to normal?” Harry asked. Hope fluttered timidly inside his chest.

“Not exactly. Sharp sounds will still be painful for you, but what happened at the mall shouldn’t occur again if you learn how to regulate loud environments to a background buzz.” Hank explained. “I used to have the same problem before I learned some Indonesian meditation techniques.”

“So, learning to meditate, it’ll help me?” Harry asked as he furrowed his brow. Slowly, his flattened ears rose to face forward; indicating his curiosity.

“Yes, it will. Don’t worry, Harry. You’re not the first kid to pass through these halls with some overactive ears. Just trust us a little, okay? I promise we know what we’re doing.” Hank’s earnest voice finally managed to calm Harry’s hiccupping heart back down to normal speeds. The boy let out a long breath of air before nodding.

“Okay.” He’d trust them a little.

But only because they knew what they were doing. When school came back around he was still going back to Hogwarts, no doubt about it.

 

 

 

* * *

Swapping laptops, decided posting it would enable me to keep it on google drive instead of on a real hard drive. Merry Christmas! and a Happy new year! 


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